Private  Library 

Fred  E.  Mclntire 

No. 


CHAllLKS   COWLEY. 


ILLUSTRATED 


HISTORY  OF  LOWELL. 


REVISED    EDITION. 


BY     CHARLES     COWLEY. 

M 


BOSTON : 
LEE    &    SHEPARD. 

LOWELL : 
B.  C.  SARGEANT  AND  JOSHUA  MERRILL. 

1868. 


Press  of  Stone  &  Huse,  Lowell. 


74 
L'scy 


PREFACE. 


In  an  age  so  prolific  in  works  of  local  history  as  ours,  no 
apology  need  be  offered  for  publishing  this  History  of  Lowell. 
Successors  of  the  Pawtucket  and  Wamesit  Indians, — heirs  of  the 
founders  of  American  Manufactures, — contemporaries  of  the  men 
of  the  "Legion  of  Honor,"  who  went  hence  to  defend  the  Na 
tionality  of  America,  and  who,  dying  on  the  field  of  battle,  have 
risen  to  enduring  renown; — the  people  of  Lowell  are  to-day  in' 
possession  of  a  certain  body  of  memories  and  traditions,  not 
current  elsewhere,  but  kept  alive  here  by  local  associations,  by 
the  presence  of  historical  objects,  and  by  the  local  press. 

Of  these  memories  and  traditions  Lowell  is  justly  proud. 
From  them  her  people  receive  an  educational  stimulus  not  to  be 
despised.  She  would  no  more  part  with  these  local  reminis 
cences  than  Plymouth  would  part  with  her  Pilgrim  history,  or 
than  New  York  would  forget  those  Knickerbocker  memories, 
among  which  the  genius  of  Irving  is  enshrined  forever. 

To  gather  and  embalm  all  that  seemed  most  valuable  in  this 
heritage  of  memories  and  traditions,  has  been  the  object  of  the 
present  work,  which  covers  the  whole  period  from  the  discovery 
of  the  Merrimack  River  by  De  Monts,  in  1605,  to  the  year  of 
Grace  1868. 

The  first  edition,  or  rather  the  original  germ,  of  this  work, 
was  published  in  1856.  With  the  aid  of  a  mass  of  materials 
laboriously  gathered  during  the  last  twelve  years,  I  may  hope 
that  the  value  of  the  work  has  been  greatly  increased.  The 
narrative  has  been  thoroughly  revised,  and  very  much  enlarged. 

Several  engravers  of  established  reputation  were  employed 
to  execute  illustrative  cuts.  Many  of  these  arc  well  done  :  but 


some  are  so  badly  executed  that,  perhaps,  an  apology  is  due 
for  their  insertion  in  these  pages ;  and  others  have  been  rejected 
altogether. 

Materials  were  at  hand  for  a  much  larger  volume,  or  even  for 
several  volumes ;  but  I  have  aimed  to  be  concise, — considering 
Moses,  who,  in  two  lines,  chronicled  the  creation  of  a  world, 
(pace  Colenso,)  a  much  better  model  for  the  local  annalist  than 
he  who  filled  several  volumes  with  the  burning  of  a  Brunswick 
Theatre. 

How  far  I  have  succeeded  in  the  accomplishment  of  this  self- 
imposed  task,  my  readers  must  judge;  and  they  will  form  the 
most  charitable  judgments,  who  best  appreciate  the  great  diffi- 
"culties  under  which  such  a  task  must  be  prosecuted.  If  I  have 
not  wholly  failed  of  my  purpose,  the  work  will  possess  attrac 
tions  for  all  who  are  identified  with  Lowell,  and  perchance  may 
descend  to  the  Lowellians  of  the  Future,  and  be  read  with  inter 
est  hereafter,  when  he  who  wrote  it  shall  have  passed  away. 

THE  AUTHOR. 

March  4th,  1868. 


CONTENTS. 


Chapter.  Page. 

I. — FBOM  THE  DISCOVERY  OF  THE  MERRIMACK  TO  THE 

INTRODUCTION  OF  MANUFACTURES,    ....  13 

II. — INTRODUCTION  OF  MANUFACTURES, 28 

III. — THE  FIRST  MANUFACTURING  CORPORATION,     .     .  36 

IV. — MANUFACTURING  HISTORY  OF  LOWELL,     ...  42 

V. GENERAL    HlSTORY    OF    LOWELL.       1820 1835,   .  69 

VI. — CHURCH  HISTORY  OF  LOWELL, 86 

VII. — SCHOOL  HISTORY  OF  LOWELL, 103 

VIII. — GENERAL  HISTORY  OF  LOWELL.     1835 — 1850,  .111 

IX. — GENERAL  HISTORY  OF  LOWELL.     1850 — 1860,    .  140 

X. — POLITICAL  HISTORY  OF  LOWELL, 158 

XL — MUNICIPAL  HISTORY  OF  LOWELL, 165 

XII. — LOWELL  DURING  THE  KEBELLION, 172 

XIII. — GENERAL  HISTORY  OF  LOWELL.     1860 — 1868,  .  198 

NECROLOGY  OF  LOWELL,       213 

LOWELL  LEGISLATORS, 223 

NAVAL  OFFICERS 226 

ARMY  OFFICERS, 228 

SOLDIERS  WHO  DIED  IN  THE  SERVICE,                             .  231 


ILLUSTRATIONS. 


LOWELL  AND  THE  AUTHOR, Frontispieces. 

Page. 

PAWTUCKET  FALLS  AND  BRIDGE, 31 

KIRK  BOOTT 45 

JOHN  D.  PRINCE, 47 

MERRIMACK  MILL,  No.  6, 49 

LOWELL  COMPANY'S  MILLS, 52 

OLIVER  M.  WHIPPLE, 63 

WILLIAM  LIVINGSTON, 74 

ST.  ANNE'S  CHURCH, 86 

ST.  PAUL'S  CHURCH, 88 

FIRST  UNIVERSALIST  CHURCH 89 

APPLETON  STREET  CHURCH, 91 

PAIGE  STREET  CHURCH, 94 

WORTHEN  STREET  CHURCH, 96 

FREE  CHAPEL, 97 

KIRK  STREET  CHURCH, 98 

CENTRAL  METHODIST  CHURCH, 99 

LEE  STREET  CHURCH, 100 

JAMES  0.  AYER, 115 

NATHAN  CROSBY, 133 

NORTHERN  DEPOT, 134 

NORTHERN  CANAL, 137 

COURT  HOUSE, 141 

GEORGE  WELLMAN 146 

LOWELL  JAIL, 153 

BENJAMIN  F.  BUTLER, 173 

LADD  AND  WHITNEY  MONUMENT, 178 

MAJOR  E.  G.  ABBOTT, 182 

CAPTAIN  CLAFFEY, 184 

MAJOR  S.  A.  PERKINS, 187 

GENERAL  H.  L.  ABBOTT, 190 

JOHN  NESMITH, 201 

STATUE   OF  VICTORY 210 


HISTORY  OF  LOWELL. 


CHAPTER    I. 

FROM  THE  DISCOVERY  OF  THE  MERRIMACK  TO  THE  INTRODUCTION 
OF  MANUFACTURES. 

Geology  of  the  Merrimack— Discovery  of  the  Merriftick— De  Monts— Cham- 
plain— Concord  River— Indian  Rendezvous  at  Lowell— John  Eliot— Gen. 
Gookin— Billerica—  Chelrnsford— Wamesit  Reservation  —  Indians  —  Passa- 
conaway — Wannalaucet — Indian  "War — King  William's  War — Dracut — Pur 
chase  of  Wamesit— Tewksbury — Convention  in  Dracut— Bunker  Hill  Inci 
dents — Simeon  Spaulding — Shay's  Rebellion — Slavery — Pawtucket  Canal- 
Bridge  over  the  Merrimack — Middlesex  Canal — Timber  Trade. 

HERODOTUS,  with  fine  felicity,  calls  Egypt  a  gift  from  the 
Nile.  In  a  similar  sense,  Lowell  may  be  called  a  gift  from 
the  Merrimack.  Her  history,  also,  may  be  well  begun  with 
that  noble  artery  of  nature,  the  waters  of  which  move  the 
great  wheels  of  her  industry. 

Long  after  America  was  upheaved  from  the  bosom  of  the 
Atlantic,  a  chain  of  lakes  occupied  the  valleys  of  the  Merri 
mack  and  its  tributaries,  from  the  mountains  to  the  sea. 
Proofs  of  this  appear  in  the  alluvial  formation  of  these  valleys, 
the  shapes  of  their  basins,  their  outlets,  their  different  levels, 
and  the  stratified  character  of  the  soil.  One  of  these  lakes 
extended  westward  from  Pawtucket  Falls ;  and  the  limits  of 
several  others  may  be  easily  defined.0  But  long  before  the 
dawn  of  history,  and  probably  long  before  man  appeared  on 
the  earth,  the  attrition  of  the  waters  in  the  channels  of  these 
lakes,  by  widening  and  deepening  their  outlets,  gradually 
diminished  their  depth,  and  at  length  left  their  basins  dry. 

*  Potter's  Manchester,  p.  24;  Fox's  Dunstable,  p.  8. 
2 


14  HISTORY    OF    LOWELL. 

The  draining  of  these  lakes  increased  the  volume  of  water 
which  the  Merrimack  rolled  down  to  the  main. 

The  head  of  the  Merrimack  is  at  Franklin  in  New  Hamp 
shire,  where  the  Winnepesawkee,  the  outlet  of  the  lake  of  that 
name,  unites  with  the  Pemigewasset,  an  artery  of  the  White 
Mountains.  Like  all  the  great  rivers  on  the  Atlantic  slope, 
the  Merrimack  pursues  a  southerly  course.  But  after  follow 
ing  this  course  from  Franklin  to  Tyngsborough,  a  distance  of 
eighty  miles,  the  Merrimack,  unlike  any  other  stream  on  the 
Atlantic,  makes  a  detour  to  the  north-east,  and  even  runs  a 
part  of  the  way  north-west.  It  is  obviously  unnatural  that, 
after  approaching  T|jthin  twenty  miles-  of  the  head- waters  of 
the  Saugus,  as  the  Merrimack  does  on  entering  Massachusetts, 
it  should  suddenly  change  its  course,  and  pursue  a  circuitous 
route  of*  more  than  forty  miles  to  the  sea.  If  the  history  of 
by-gone  ages  could  be  restored,  we  should  probably  find  the 
Merrimack  discharging  its  burden  at  Lynn,  and  not  at  New- 
buryport. 

Changes  like  this,  however,  are  not  unfamiliar  to  geologists. 
Sometimes  they  have  been  caused  by  earthquakes,  but  more 
often,  in  these  latitudes,  by  ice-gorges.0  Whether  this  deflec 
tion  in  the  course  of  the  Merrimack  was  caused  by  subterra 
nean  convulsions,  or  by  the  formation  in  the  old  channel  of  an 
ice-blockade,  cannot  now  be  known  ;  but  the  fact  of  the  change 
is  unquestionable. 

The  discovery  of  the  Merrimack  took  place  under  the  auspi 
ces  of  Henry  the  Fourth,  commonly  called  Henry  the  Great, 
whose  reign  forms  one  of  the  most  brilliant  eras  in  the  annals 
of  France.  In  1603,  Pierre  Du  Gua,  Sieur  de  Monts,  one  of 
the  ablest  of  the  Huguenot  chiefs,  obtained  a  patent  from  this 
king,  creating  him  Lieutenant-General  and  Vice-Admiral,  and 
vesting  in  him  the  government  of  New  France,  which  em- 


*On  earthquakes  on  the  Merrimack,  see  Coffin's  Newbury;  on  ice- 
floods,  Hitchcock's  Geology  of  Massachusetts,  Part  III. 


HISTORY    OP    LOWELL,  15 

braced  all  our  Eastern  and  Middle  States,  together  with  the 
Dominion  of  Canada.  On  the  seventh  of  March,  1604,  De 
Monts  sailed  from  Havre  with  an  expedition  for  colonizing 
"  Acadia,"  as  his  new  dominions  were  called.  He  arrived  on 
the  sixth  of  April,  and  began  at  once  the  great  work  of  ex 
ploration  and  settlement.0  While  talking  with  the  Indians  on 
the  banks  of  the  river  St.  Lawrence,  in  the  ensuing  summer, 
he  was  told  by  them  that  there  was  a  beautiful  river  lying  far 
to  the  south,  which  they  called  the  Merrimack.f  The  follow 
ing  winter  De  Monts  spent  with  his  fellow-pioneers  on  the 
island  of  St.  Croix,  in  Passamaquoddy  Bay,  amid  hardships  as 
severe  as  those  which,  sixteen  years  later,  beset  the  Pilgrims 
at  Plymouth. 

On  the  eighteenth  of  June,  1605,  in  a  bark  of  fifteen  tons, — 
having  with  him  the  Sieur  de  Chainplain,  several  other  French 
gentlemen,  twenty  sailors,  and  an  Indian  with  his  squaw, — De 
Monts  sailed  from  the  St.  Croix,  and  standing  to  the  south 
examined  the  coast  as  far  as  Cape  Cod.  In  the  course  of  this 
cruise,  on  the  seventeenth  of  July,  1605,  he  entered  the  bay 
on  which  the  city  of  Newburyport  has  since  arisen,  and  dis 
covered  the  Merrimack  at  its  mouth.  The  Sieur  de  Cham- 
plain,  the  faithful  pilot  of  De  Monts,  and  chronicler  of  his 
voyages,  has  left  a  notice  of  this  discovery  in  a  work  which 
ranks  among  the  most  romantic  in  the  literature  of  the  sea. 
Inclosing  this  notice  Champlain  says:  "Moreover,  there  is 
in  this  bay  a  river  of  considerable  magnitude,  which  we  have 
called  Gua's  Eiver."| 

*  Parkman's  Pioneers  of  France  in  the  New  World, 
f  Relationes  des  Jesuites,  1604. 

J  Plug  y  a  en  icelle  bay  une  riviere  qui  est  fort  spaciuese,  Jaqulle  auons  nom- 
tnela  riviere  du  Gas  [Gud].— Voyages  en  la  Nouvette  France,  ed.  1632,  p.  80 
(Harvard  University  Library).  In  Potter's  Manchester,  and  Chase's  Haverhill, 
Captain  Champlain  himself  is  erroneously  credited  with  the  discovery  of  the 
Merrimack.  The  romantic  career  of  Champlain,  "  the  father  of  New  France," 
is  graphically  sketched  by  Dr.  Parkman,  in  his  Pioneers  of  France  in  the  New 
World.  His  works  are  soon  to  be  published  by  the  University  of  Lasalle. 


16  HISTORY    OF    LOWELL. 

Thus  De  Monts  named  the  Merrimack  from  himself ;  but 
the  compliment  was  not  accepted.  Eegardless  of  the  name 
with  which  it  was  baptized  by  its  discoverer,  the  Merrimack 
clung,  with  poetic  justice,  to  the  name  which  it  received  from 
the  Indians  long  before  the  flag  of  "the  Vice- Admiral  floated 
over  Newburyport  Bay.  The  visit  of  Admiral  De  Monts,  like 
that  of  Capt.  John  Smith  in  1614,  was  attended  with  no  result. 
Other  renowned  names  were  yet  to  be  inscribed  on  the  list  of 
the  visitors  of  the  Merrimack.  But  its  song  was  the  song  of 
Tennyson's  brook : — 

"For  men  may  come  and  men  may  go, 
But  I  roll  ou  forever." 

The  King  had  stipulated,  in  his  patent  of  New  France,  that 
De  Monts  should  establish  in  Acadia  the  Eoman  Catholic 
creed,  ("  la  foy  catholique,  apostolique  et  romaine  ;"}  a  singu 
lar  condition  indeed,  considering  that  De  Monts  was  a  Protest 
ant,  and  that  Henry  himself  was  only  a  "political  Catholic." 
The  expenses  of  the  three  expeditions  which  he  sent  to  New 
France  were  ruinous  to  De  Monts.  Cabals  were  formed  by  his 
enemies ;  neither  the  loftiest  motives  nor  the  finest  abilities 
could  save  him ;  and  the  tragic  death  of  Henry  by  the  dagger 
by  Kavaillac,  in  1610,  completed  his  ruin  as  a  public  man. 
He  died  about  the  year  1620.® 

In  1635,  thirty  years  after  the  discovery  of  the  Merrimack, 
the  Concord,  which  the  Indians  called  the  Musketaquid,  as 
sumed  a  place  in  civilized  history;  the  fame  of  its  grassy 
meadows  and  of  the  fish  that  swarmed  in  its  waters  attracting 
settlers  from  England,  who  established  themselves  at  Concord. J 

From  a  period  too  remote  to  be  determined  by  either  history 
or  tradition,  until  after  the  great  Indian  Plague  of  1617, 
Pawtucket  Falls  on  the  Merrimack,  and  Warnesit  Falls  on  the 

*  See  Haag's   Vies  des  Protestants  Francais  (Boston  Public  Library). 

J  Thoreau's  Week  on  the  Concord  and  Merrimack  Rivers ;  Reynold's  Agri 
cultural  Survey  of  Middlesex  County,  in  Transactions  of  Mas?.  Society  for 
Promoting  Agriculture,  1859;  Shattuck's  Concord, 


HISTORY    OF    LOWELL.  17 

Concord,  were  the  sites  of  populous  villages  of  Pawtucket  or 
Pennacook  Indians,  who,  indeed,  remained,  though  with 
greatly  diminished  numbers,  in  the  present  territory  of  Lowell, 
forty  years  after  the  plague.  Here,  in  spring-time,  from  all 
the  circumjacent  region,  came  thousands  of  the  dusky  sons 
and  daughters  of  the  forest,  catching,  with  rude  stratagem, 
their  winter's  store  of  fish.  Here  they  sat  in  conclave  round 
the  council  fire.  Here  they  threaded  the  fantastic  mazes  of 
the  dance.  "Here  was  the  war-whoop  sounded,  and  the  death- 
song  sung ;  and  when  the  tiger  strife  was  over,  here  curled 
the  smoke  of  peace." 

The  Pawtuckets,  or  Pennacooks,  were  among  the  most  pow 
erful  tribes  in  New  England,  numbering,  after  the  plague, 
several  thousand  souls.  Their  territory  stretched  almost  from 
the  Penobscot  to  the  Connecticut,  and  included  the  whole  of 
New  Hampshire,  a  part  of  Massachusetts,  and  a  part  of  Maine. 
At  the  head  of  this  tribe,  the  first  English  settlers  found  the 
sagacious  and  wary  Passaconaway,  who,  in  1644,  after  more 
than  twenty  years'  observation  of  the  progress  of  the  English 
settlements,  signed  an  agreement  which  is  still  preserved,  re 
nouncing  his  authority  as  an  independent  chief,  and  placing 
himself  and  his  tribe  under  the  colonial  authorities.* 

In  1647,  the  Eev.  John  Eliot,  "  the  Apostle  of  the  Indians," 
began  a  series  of  missionary  visits  to  this  place,  which  were 
continued  by  him  till  the  villages  of  Wamesit  and  Pawtucket 
ceased  to  be.  In  1656,  Major-General  Daniel  Gookin  was  ap 
pointed  Superintendent  of  all  the  Indians  under  the  jurisdic 
tion  of  the  Colony,  among  whom  were  the  Indians  living  here. 
Thus  a  sort  of  Indian  Bureau  was  established,  not  unlike  the 
Freedmen's  Bureau  of  a  later  day.  The  Apostle  Eliot  and 
Judge  Gookin  won  the  entire  confidence  of  the  Indians,  being 
about  the  only  white  men  that  came  among  them  who  did  not 
come  to  rob  them. 

*  I  omit  the  details  of  the  Indian  history  of  Lowell,  and  refer  the  reader 
to  my  historical  lecture  on  the  "Memories  of  the  Indians  and  Pioneers"  of  this 
region,  published,  in  pamphlet  form,  in  1862. 

2* 


18  HISTORY    OF    LOWELL. 

In  1652,  Captain  Simon  Willard  and  Captain  Edward 
Johnson,  under  a  commission  from  the  colonial  government, 
ascended  the  Merrimack  in  a  boat,  and  surveyed  the  valley  as 
far  as  Lake  Winnepesawkee.  A  new  impetus  was  given  to 
the  work  of  settlement,  which,  as  early  as  1653,  reached  the 
vicinity  of  Lowell.  On  the  twenty-ninth  of  May,  1655,  the 
General  Court  incorporated  the  town  of  Chelmsford,  and  also 
the  town  of  Billerica.0 

To  secure  the  Indians  from  being  dispossessed  of  their  lands, 
on  which  they  had  erected  substantial  wigwams,  made  enclo 
sures,  and  begun  the  business  of  agriculture,  Eliot,  in  1653, 
procured  the  passage  of  an  act  by  the  General  Court,  reserving 
a  good  part  of  the  land  on  which  Lowell  now  stands  to  the 
exclusive  use  of  the  Indians.  The  bounds  of  Chelmsford,  and 
also  of  this  Wamesit  Indian  Reservation,  were  modified  and 
enlarged  by  the  General  Court  in  1656  and  in  1660.  About 
1665,  a  ditch,  traces  of  which  are  still  visible,  was  cut  to 
mark  the  bounds  of  the  Indian  reservation ;  beginning  on  the 
bank  of  the  Merrimack,  above  the  Falls,  and  running  thence 
southerly,  easterly,  and  northerly,  in  a  semi-circular  line, 
including  about  twenty-five  hundred  acres,  and  termina 
ting  on  the  bank  of  the  Merrimack,  about  a  mile  below  tho 
mouth  of  the  Concord. 

The  year  1660  was  signalized  by  an  event  claiming  notice 
in  this  narrative,  though  it  is  uncertain  whether  it  took  place 
here  or  where  Manchester  now  stands :  the  retirement  of  Pas- 
saconaway.  Burdened  with  the  weight  of  about  four  score 
years,  this  veteran  chief  gave  a  grand  though  rude  banquet, 
which  was  attended  by  a  vast  concourse  of  chiefs,  braves,  and 
other  Indians  of  every  degree,  together  with  a  representation 
of  the  new  race  that  was  now  claiming  the  ancient  abode  of 
the  red  man.  Transferring  his  sachemship  to  his  son,  Wan- 
nalancet,  the  old  chief  made  a  farewell  address,  of  which  we 

•  Allen's  Chelmsford ;  Myrick's  Bill«rica;  Barber's  Historical  Collections. 


HISTORY    OF    LOWELL.  19 

have  the  following  report, — which  is,  perhaps,  as  trustworthy 
as  the  reports  of  speeches  in  the  pictured  pages  of  Livy : — 

"  I  am  now  going  the  way  of  all  the  earth;  I  am  ready  to  die,  and  not 
likely  to  see  you  ever  met  together  any  more.  I  will  now  leave  this  word 
of  counsel  with  you :  Take  heed  how  you  quarrel  with  the  English.  Harken 
to  the  last  words  of  your  father  and  friend.  The  white  men  are  the  sons  of 
the  morning.  The  Great  Spirit  is  their  father.  His  sun  shines  bright  about 
them.  Never  make  war  with  them.  Sure  as  you  light  the  fires,  the  breath  of 
heaven  will  turn  the  flame  upon  you  and  destroy  you." 

The  local  sachem  of  this  place  dur 
ing  several  succeeding  years  was  Nump- 
how,  who  was  married  to  one  of  Passa- 
conaway's  daughters.  But  in  1669, 
Wannalancet  and  the  Indians  of  Con 
cord,  New  Hampshire,  fearing  an  attack 
from  the  Mohawks,  came  down  the  Mer- 
rimack  in  canoes,  took  up  their  abode  at 
Wamesit,  and  built  a  fort  for  their  pro 
tection  on  the  hill  in  Belvidere,  ever 
since  called  Fort  Hill,  which  they  sur 
rounded  with  palisades.  The  white  settlers  of  the  vicinity, 
participating  in  this  dread  of  the  Mohawks,  shut  themselves 
up  in  garrison  houses. 

In  1674,  Gookin  computed  the  Christian  Indians  then  in 
Wamesit  at  fifteen  families,  or  seventy-five  souls,  and  the  ad 
herents  of  the  old  faith,  or  no-faith,  at  nearly  two  hundred 
more.  At  this  time,  the  Indian  magistrate,  Numphow,  the 
archetype  of  Judge  Locke  and  Judge  Crosby,  held  a  monthly 
court,  taking  cognizance  of  petty  offences,  in  a  log  cabin,  near 
the  Boott  Canal.  An  Indian  preacher,  Samuel,  imparted  to 
his  clansmen  4iis  own  crude  views  of  Christianity  at  weekly 
meetings  in  a  log  chapel  near  the  west  end  of  A'ppleton  street. 
In  May  of  each  year  came  Eliot  and  Gookin,  who  held  a  court 
having  jurisdiction  of  higher  offences,  and  gave  direction  in 
all  matters  affecting  the  interests  of  the  village.  Numphow's 
cabin  was  Gookin's  court-house,  and  Samuel's  chapel  was 


20  HISTORY    OF    LOWELL. 

Eliot's  church.      Wannalancet  held   his  court  as  chief  in  a 
log  cabin  near  Pawtucket  Falls. 

In  1675,  came  King  Phillip's  War,  during  which  Wanna- 
lancet  and  our  local  Indians,  faithful  to  the  counsels  of  Passa- 
conaway,  either  took  part  with  the  whites,  or  remained  neutral. 
Their  sufferings  in  consequence  of  this  were  most  severe. 
Some  of  them  were  put  to  death  by  Phillip  for  exposing  his 
designs ;  some  of  them  were  put  to  death  by  the  colonists  as 
Phillip's  accomplices ;  some  fell  in  battle  in  benalf  of  the 
whites ;  while  others  fell  victims  to  the  undiscriminating  hatred 
of  the  low  whites,  whose  passions,  on  the  least  provocation, 
broke  out  with  hellish  fury  against  the  "praying  Indians." 
In  one  instance,  in  1676,  when  all  the  able-bodied  Indians 
had  fled  to  Canada,  and  when  six  or  seven  aged  Indians,  blind 
and  lame,  were  left  here  in  wigwams,  too  infirm  to  be  removed, 
a  party  of  scoundrels  from  Chelmsford  came  to  Wamesit  by 
night,  set  fire  to  these  wigwams  and  burned  all  the  invalids  to 
death.0  What  is  worse,  so  depraved  was  public  sentiment 
during  that  period,  these  wanton  and  cowardly  murderers  were 
allowed  to  go  unpunished.  It  was  impossible  to  find  a  jury 
that  would  return  a  verdict  of  guilty  against  a  white  man  who 
had  killed  an  Indian,  no  matter  under  what  circumstances  of 
atrocity  the  murder  had  been  committed. 

During  this  war  the  white  settlers  in  this  region  were  gath 
ered  for  protection  in  garrisons.  Billerica  escaped  harm ;  but 
Chelmsford  was  twice  visited  by  the  partisans  of  Phillip, 
and  several  buildings  were  burned.  Two  sons  of  Samuel  Var- 
num,  living  in  what  is  now  Dracut,  were  shot  while  crossing 
the  Merrimack  with  their  father  in  a  boat. 

In  April,  1676,  Captain  Samuel  Hunting  aiftl  Lieutenant 
James  Eichardson,  under  orders  from  the  Governor  and  Coun 
cil,  erected  a  fort  at  Pawtucket  Falls,  in  which  a  garrison  was 


o  See  more  of  these  atrocities  in  Cowley's  Indian  and  Pioneer  Memories  ; 
Gookin's  Christian  Indians  In  Transactions  of  the  American  Antiquarian 
Society,  vol.  2;  Oliver's  Puritan  Commonwealth;  Willard  Memoir. 


HISTORY   OF   LOWELL.  21 

placed,  under  command  of  Lieutenant  Eichardson.  A  month 
later,  the  garrison  was  reinforced,  and  Captain  Thomas  Hench 
man  placed  in  command.  This  put  an  effectual  check  to  the 
incursions  of  Phillip's  party  in  this  part  of  the  colony. 

When  the  war  was  over,  and  Wannalancet  returned  to 
Wamesit  with  the  remains  of  his  tribe,  he  found  his  corn  fields 
in  the  hands  of  the  whites,  and  he  himself  a  stranger  in  the 
land  of  his  fathers.  By  order  of  the  General  Court,  he  and 
his  people  were  placed  on  Wickasauke  Island,  in  charge  of 
Colonel  Jonathan  Tyng  of  Dunstable.  In  1686,  Colonel 
Tyng,  Major  Henchman,  and  others,  purchased  of  Wannalan 
cet  and  his  tribe  all  their  remaining  lands  in  this  region,  leav 
ing  them  only  their  rights  of  hunting  and  fishing.  At  length, 
after  passing  through  various  vicissitudes,  and  doing  numerous 
acts  of  kindness  in  return  for  the  injuries  which  the  colonists 
had  inflicted  on  him,  Wannalancet  joined  the  St.  Francis  tribe 
in  Canada,  and  ended  his  days  among  them. 

During  the  nine  years  of  King  William's  War,  which  fol 
lowed  the  English  Kevolution  of  1688,  the  people  of  all  the 
towns  of  this  region  again  took  refuge  in  forts  and  forti 
fied  houses.  The  fort  at  Pawtucket  Falls  was  occupied  by  a 
garrison  under  command  of  Major  Henchman.  But  this  did 
not  entirely  save  them.  On  the  first  of  August,  1692,  a 
party  of  Indians,  in  league  with  the  French  in  Canada,  made  a 
raid  into  Billerica,  and  killed  eight  of  the  inhabitants.  On 
the  fifth  of  August,  1695,  a  similar  party  made  a  raid  into 
what  is  now  Tewksbury,  and  killed  fourteen  of  the  people.  A 
party  of  three  hundred  men,  horse  and  foot,  under  Colonel  Jo 
seph  Lynde,  scoured  all  the  neighboring  country  in  vain,  in 
search  of  the  foe.  From  this  officer,  Lynde's  Hill  in  Belvi- 
dere  derives  its  name — he  having  fortified  it,  and  for  some  time 
occupied  it  with  his  command. 

In  1701,  the  town  of  Dracut  was  incorporated.  It  contained 
twenty-five  families,  and  had  previously  formed  a  part  of 


22  HISTORY    OF    LOWELL. 

Chelmsford.0  It  took  its  name  from  a  parish  in  Wales,  the 
original  home  of  the  Varnums. 

Subsequent  to  the  "  Wamesit  Purchase,"  made  by  Tyng  and 
Henchman,  already  mentioned,  the  lands  of  the  Indian  Reser- 
vation  were  purchased  in  small  parcels  by  various  persons,  who 
settled  upon  them  as  upon  other  lands  in  Chelmsford.  But  in 
1725,  when  Samuel  Pierce,  who  had  his  domicil  on  the  Indian 
Reservation,  was  elected  a  member  of  the  General  Court,  he 
was  refused  his  seat,  on  the  ground  that  he  was  not  an  inhabi 
tant  of  Chelmsford.  Thereupon  the  people  of  East  Chelms 
ford,  as  Wamesit  was  then  called,  refused  to  pay  taxes  to 
Chelmsford ;  and  to  remedy  this  mischief,  an  act  was  passed 
annexing  Wamesit  to  that  town. 

On  the  twenty-ninth  of  October,  1727,  occurred  the  greatest 
earthquake  ever  known  in  this  country.  WTalls  and  chimneys 
fell,  and  all  the  towns  on  the  Merrimack  suffered  severely. 

In  1734,  the  General  Court  incorporated  the  town  of  Tewks- 
bury,  the  territory  of  which  had  previously  belonged  to  Bil- 
lerica.  It  took  its  name  from  the  English  parish  of  Tewks- 
bury,  on  the  Severn,  in  Gloucestershire,  so  famous  in  history 
as  the  scene  of  one  of  the  bloodiest  battles  in  the  "  Wars 
of  the  Roses."  There  the  partisans  of  the  House  of  York, 
under  Edward  the  Fourth,  and  the  partisans  of  the  House  of 
Lancaster,  under  the  Amazonian  Margaret,  Queen  of  Henry 
the  Sixth,  encountered  each  other's  battle-axes  for  the  last 
time.  There,  after  the  battle,  a  Prince  of  Wales  was  barbar 
ously  murdered  by  two  royal  Dukes.  There  the  glory  of  the 
royal  House  of  Lancaster  was  eclipsed  in  blood. 

In  1745,  occurred  the  siege  and  capture  of  Louisburg.  To 
the  army  which  Sir  William  Pepperell  led  from  Massachusetts 
against  that  renowned  fortress,  belonged  young  John  Ford, 
and  perhaps  others,  from  what  is  now  Lowell. 

At  the  battle  of  Bunker  Hill,  two  companies  of  Chelmsford 
men,  one  under  Captain  John  Ford,  the  other  under  Captain 

*  Lowell  Citizen  and  News,  October,  1859. 


HISTORY    OF    LOWELL.  23 

Benjamin  Walker,  and  one  company  composed  largely  of  Dra- 
cut  men,  under  Captain  Peter  Colburn,  were  present,  and  ac 
quitted  themselves  with  credit.  There  are  two  traditions  con 
nected  with  this  event  which  must  not  be  lost,  notwithstanding 
the  gigantic  battles  of  the  late  Kebellion  have  thrown  all  the 
engagements  of  the  Eevolution  into  the  shade.  It  is  said  that 
when  the  first  man  in  Ford's  company  fell,  his  comrades,  then 
for  the  first  time  under  fire,  were  seized  with  panic  ;  but  there 
upon  one  of  Ford's  officers  began  to  sing  Old  Hundred  in  a 
firm  voice,  and  this  so  reassured  the  men  that  they  gave  no 
further  sign  of  panic.  The  other  tradition  of  this  battle  is, 
that,  just  as  the  ammunition  of  the  Americans  was  exhausted, 
and  orders  were  given  to  retreat,  a  British  officer  mounted  the 
breastworks,  and,  with  a  flourish  of  his  sword,  exclaimed, 
"  Now,  my  boys,  we  have  you."  Hearing  this,  Captain  Col- 
burn  of  Dracut  picked  up  a  stone,  about  the  size  of  a  hen's 
egg,  and,  throwing  it  with  all  his  might,  hit  the  officer  in  the 
forehead,  knocking  him  down  backwards.  The  Captain  and 
his  men  then  hastily  retreated  with  the  rest  of  the  American 
forces. 

In  November,  1776,  committees  from  all  the  towns  of  this 
region  met  in  convention  at  the  house  of  Major  Joseph  Varnum 
ki  Dracut,  and  petitioned  the  colonial  legislatures  of  Massa 
chusetts  and  New  Hampshire  for  a  law  to  regulate  prices,, 
which  had  been  fearfully  enhanced  by  the  Kevolutionary  War, 
then  pending.0  The  proceedings  of  this  convention  show  that 
its  members  participated  in  that  ignorance  of  the  principles  of 
political  economy,  which  was  universal  till  the  time  of  Adam 
Smith,  and  which  is  by  no  means  dispelled  in  the  days  of  John- 
Stuart  Mill.' 

This  region  has  the  honor  of  having  contributed  one  of  the 
most  useful,  though  not  one  of  the  most  brilliant,  statesmen 
who  served  the  American  Colonies  in  their  struggle  for  national 
independence — Simeon  Spaulding  of  Chelmsford.  He  was  a 

*New  Hampshire  Historical  Collections,  vol.  2,  pp.  58-68. 


24  HISTORY    OF    LOWELL. 

Colonel  of  Militia  when  the  duties  of  the  Militia,  and  the 
protection  which  it  afforded,  made  that  office  one  of  real  impor 
tance.  From  1771  to  1775  he  was  a  member  of  the  General 
Court.  From  1775  to  1778  he  served  in  the  Provincial  Con 
gress,  and  during  one  of  these  years  was  Chairman  of  the 
Committee  of  Public  Safety.  He  was  also  a  member  of  the 
Convention  of  1779,  which  framed  the  State  Constitution. 
He  died  in  1785.* 

During  Shay's  Eebellion,  in  1786,  a  body  of  Chelmsford 
Militia  served  under  General  Lincoln  in  the  western  counties ; 
and  "on  the  memorable  thirtieth  of  January,"  as  Allen 
writes,  "performed  a  march  of  thirty  miles,  without  refresh 
ment,  through  deep  snows,  in  a  stormy  and  severely  cold  night ; 
a  march  that  would  have  done  honor  to  the  veteran  soldiers  of 
Hannibal  or  Napoleon." 

The  people  of  Chelmsford,  from  the  earliest  period  of  their 
local  history,  gave  every  encouragement  to  millers,  lumber 
men,  mechanics,  and  traders,  making  grants  of  land,  with  tem 
porary  exemption  from  taxation,  to  such  as  would  settle  in  their 
town.  Accordingly,  Chelmsford  became  distinguished  for  its 
saw-mills,  grist-mills,  and  mechanics'  shops  of  various  kinds. 
Establishments  of  the  same  kind  also  arose  in  Billerica,  Dra- 
cut  and  Tewksbury. 

It  is  but  fair,  though  far  from  flattering,  to  record  the  fact,  • 
that  the  mother  towns  of  Lowell  were  among  the  last  to  abandon 
slavery,  f  Till  near  the  beginning  of  the  present  century,  ne 
gro  slaves  were  kept  on  what  is  now  the  Moor  farm,  and  also 
on  what  afterward  became  known  as  the  Livermore  place, 
where  Phillip  Gedney,  a  former  British  Consul  a^  Demarara, 
then  resided. 

Toward  the  close  of  the  last  century,  this  region  became 
the  theatre  of  an  active  business  in  wood  and  lumber.  The 
forests  along  the  shores  of  the  Merrimack,  which  had  never 

*  Allen's  Chelmsford ;  Lowell  Courier,  September  23—29,  1859. 
t  See  Moore's  Slavery  in  Massachusetts. 


HISTORY    OF    LOWELL.  25 

before  rung  with  the  sound  of  the  woodman's  axe,  afforded  an 
exhaustless  supply  of  materials  for  rafts,  which  already  com 
manded  a  good  price  at  Newburyport  and  other  towns  on  the 
sea-board.  But  the  descent  of  the  river  at  Pawtucket  Falls 
was  so  precipitous, — the  current  so  violent,  and  the  channel  so 
rocky, — that  great  difficulty  was  experienced  in  passing  rafts 
down  the  rapids.  A  canal  round  the  falls  for  the  passage  of 
boats,  rafts  and  masts  was  first  suggested  for  the  convenience 
of  the  lumbermen,  thirty  years  before  any  one  dreamed  of 
using  the  waters  for  the  purpose  of  manufactures  ;  though  from 
about  the  time  of  the  Kevolution  there  had  been  a  saw-mill 
below  Pawtucket  Falls,  driven  by  the  Merrirnack.  It  was 
owned  about  this  time  by  John  Tyng  of  Tyngsborough,  a  Judge 
of  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas. 

In  1792,  Dudley  A.  Tyng,  William  Coombs,  and  others, 
were  incorporated  as  "  The  Proprietors  of  the  Locks  and  Ca 
nals  on  Merrimack  Kiver."0  They  at  once  proceeded  to  open  a 
canal,  one  and  a  half  miles  long,  connecting  Merrimack  Eiver 
above  the  falls  with  the  Concord  below.  The  level  of  the 
water  in  the  lower  end  of  the  canal,  a  brief  distance  above  the 
mouth  of  the  Concord,  was  thirty-two  feet  lower  than  the  level 
of  the  water  at  the  upper  end.  The  descent  was  accomplished 
by  means  of  four  sets  of  locks.  The  canal  occupied  less  than 
five  years  in  its  construction,  and  cost  fifty  thousand  dollars. 

When  the  first  boat  passed  down  the  canal  in  1797,  with 
the  directors  and  other  gentlemen  on  board,  and  hundreds  of 
men,  women  and  children  as  spectators  on  the  banks,  an  inci 
dent  occurred,  of  which  Allen  gives  a  very  lively  account. 
One  side  of  the  canal  gave  way  ;  the  water  burst  upon  the 
the  people,  and  the  greatest  confusion  ensued.  "  Infants  were 
separated  from  their  mothers,  children  from  their  parents, 
wives  from  their  husbands,  young  ladies  from  their  gallants  ; 
and  men,  women,  timber,  and  broken  boards  and  planks,  were 
seen  promiscuously  floating  in  the  water."  Nantes — rari  ap~ 

*7  Mass.  Rep.  p.  168. 

3 


26  HISTORY    OF    LOWELL. 

parent  in  gurgite  vasto.  But  no  life  was  lost,  and  no  serious 
injury  incurred. 

The  stock  of  the  Locks  and  Canals  Company  was  divided 
into  five  hundred  shares,  owned  by  individuals  in  Middlesex 
and  Essex  Counties.  But  the  dividends  declared  were  never 
considerable ;  and  the  stock  soon  fell  far  below  par  in  conse 
quence  of  the  successful  competition  of  the  Middlesex  Canal 
with  the  business. 

In  the  same  year  that  the  Locks  and  Canals  Company  were 
incorporated,  Parker  Varnum  of  Dracut  and  others  were  in 
corporated  as  "  The  Proprietors  of  the  Middlesex  Merrimack 
Eiver  Bridge,"  and  the  first  bridge  across  the  Merrimack 
was  constructed  by  them  at  Pawtucket  Falls.  It  was  entirely 
of  wood.  Previous  to  this  time,  the  only  public  conveyance 
over  the  Merrimack  was  by  a  toll  ferry-boat.  The  Concord 
had  been  bridged  nearly  twenty  years  earlier. 

In  1793,  the  Proprietors  of  the  Middlesex  Canal  were  incor 
porated.  Mr.  Weston,  an  eminent  English  engineer,  was  em 
ployed  to  survey  the  channel  of  the  canal ;  and  Loammi  Bald 
win  of  Woburn  superintended  its  construction,  and  was  the 
animating  soul  of  the  work.  This  canal  began  on  the  Merri 
mack,  about  a  mile  above  Pawtucket  Falls,  extended  south 
by  east  a  distance  of  thirty-one  miles,  and  terminated  in  Charles- 
town.  It  was  completed  in  1804,  and  cost  seven  hundred 
thousand  dollars.  It  was  twenty-four  feet  wide  and  four  feet 
deep,  and  was  fed  by  Concord  Eiver.  In  digging  this  canal, 
pine  cones  and  charcoal  were  found,  twelve  feet  below  the  sur 
face,  specimens  of  which  were  long  exhibited  in  the  Museum  at 
Cambridge.  The  excavations  made  for  this  canal,  and  also 
those  previously  made  for  the  Pawtucket  Canal,  disclosed  un 
mistakable  proofs  that  the  channel  of  the  Merrimack,  in  this 
vicinity,  was  once  a  considerable  distance  south  and  west  of 
its  present  situation — that  the  Merrimack  formerly  ran  by  the 
southwest  side  of  Fort  Hill,  instead  of  by  the  northeast 
side. 


HISTORY    OF    LOWELL.  27 

This  Canal  was  the  first  in  the  United  States  that  was 
opened  for  the  transportation  of  passengers  and  merchandise ; 
and  some  are  still  living  who  were  often  passengers  in  the  neat 
little  packet-boat,  "  Governor  Sullivan,"  which  plied  between 
Boston  and  Lowell,  through  the  waters  of  the  Middlesex  Ca 
nal,  occupying  nearly  the  whole  day  in  the  passage.  Connect 
ing  Boston  with  the  upper  Merrimack,  the  channel  of  which 
was  navigable  the  entire  distance  from  Pawtucket  Falls  up  to 
Concord,  it  formed  an  important  artery  for  the  lumber  busi 
ness,  which  had  long  been  very  extensive  here,  as  well  as  for 
the  new  industries  then  in  process  of  development.  Vast 
quantities  of  timber  grown  around  Winnepesawkee  Lake,  on 
the  Merrimack  and  its  branches,  and  on  Massabesic  Pond,  and 
the  produce  of  a  great  extent  of  fertile  country,  were  trans 
ported  to  Boston  by  this  canal.0 

The  first  boat  voyage  from  Boston,  by  the  Middlesex  Canal 
and  the  Merrimack  River,  to  Concord,  (N.  H.),  was  made  in 
the  autumn  of  1814.  The  first  steambo<&  from  Boston  reached 
Concord  in  1819.  Had  this  canal  been  kept  open  until  now, 
it  is  difficult  to  see  why  it  might  not  still  be  profitably  con 
ducted.  But  its  day  has  gone  by,  and  its  history  may  as  well 
be  ended  here  as  hereafter. 

As  the  competition  of  the  Middlesex  Canal  ruinously  re 
duced  the  value  of  the  property  of  the  Pawtucket  Canal,  so, 
in  the  retributive  justice  of  years,  other  competition — the  in 
troduction  of  railroads — extinguished  the  value  of  the  stock 
of  the  Middlesex  Canal.  A  striking  example  of  "  the  revenges 
of  history."  In  1853,  navigation  was  discontinued  in  the 
canal,  and  soon  afterward  portions  of  its  banks  were  levelled, 
and  parts  of  the  channel  filled  up.  The  income  of  the  stock 
hardly  averaged  three  and  a  half  per  cent.;  and  the  proprie 
tors,  hopeless  of  any  better  dividends,  disposed  of  all  their 
saleable  property,  and  abandoned  their  franchise,  of  which 

°Sce  Armory's  Life  of  Governor  Sullivan. 


28 


HISTORY    OF    LOWELL. 


they  had  once  been  proud.  On  the  third  of  October,  1859, 
the  proprietors  were  declared,  by  a  decree  of  the  Supreme  Judi 
cial  Court,  to  have  forfeited  all  their  franchises  and  privileges, 
by  reason  of  non-feasance,  non-user,  misfeasance  and  neglect. 
Thus  was  the  corporation  forever  extinguished. 


CHAPTEE  II. 

INTRODUCTION  OF  MANUFACTURES. 

Modern  Factory  System — Inventors — Kay — Paul — Wyatt — Hargreaves— Highs 
— Arkwright— Peel  —  Crorapton— Watt  —  Cartwright  —  Bell  —  Berthollet— 
Scheelc— Chivalry  of  Industry— France— Manufactures  in  the  United  States 
—Beverly— Byfield— Samuel  Slater  — Moses  Hale— War.  of  1812— Phineas 
Whiting—  Josiah  Fletcher— Oliver  M.  Whipple— Thomas  Kurd— Winthrop 
Howe — Bridge  over  thc^oncord — Asahel  Stearns— General  Varnum. 

The  rise  of  the  modern  Factory  System  marks  one  of  the 
grandest  epochs  in  the  progress  of  mankind.  The  arts  of  card 
ing,  spinning,  weaving,  bleaching,  dyeing  and  printing  cotton, 
woollen  and  linen  fabrics,  have  been  practiced  from  the  re 
motest  ages  of  history,  and  were  practiced  in  pre-historic 
times.  Scarcely  a  century  has  elapsed  since  these  arts  were 
pursued  as  mere  domestic  handicrafts.  No  progress  of  moment 
had  been  made  in  them,  no  new  implements  had  been  intro 
duced,  for  a  thousand  years.  But  during  the  closing  forty 
years  of  the  last  century,  these  arts  were  raised  from  a  state  of 
utter  insignificance  to  a  national  and  world-wide  importance, 
and  were  developed  into  the  most  elaborate  and  mature  sys 
tem  of  industry  the  world  has  ever  seen. 

As  the  great  inventions  which  wrought  this  wonderful  change 
were  achieved  long  before  the  building  of  Lowell,  a  rapid  ac 
count  of  them  will  be  all  that  the  purposes  of  this  history  re 
quire.  But  they  can  hardly  be  passed  unnoticed,  for  without 


HISTORY    OF    LOWELL.  29 

them  Lowell  must  have  remained  a  border  hamlet  of  an  ob 
scure  town. 

The  first  modern  invention  that  led  to  any  important  im 
provement  in  manufacturing,  was  John  Kay's  fly-shuttle,  pa 
tented  in  1733,  but  strange  to  say,  not  introduced  into  this 
country  for  more  than  fifty  years  after  it  was  first  used  in 
England. 

In  1738,  Lewis  Paul  obtained  a  patent  for  the  first  machin 
ery  for  spinning, — invented,  several  years  before,  by  John 
Wyatt.  In  1740,  manufacturing  was  commenced  at  Man 
chester,  England.  In  1748,  Paul  obtained  a  patent  for  the 
first  cylinder  carding-machine.  In  1758,  he  obtained  another 
patent  for  improved  machinery  for  spinning. 

In  1760,  Robert  Kay  invented  the  drop-box,  by  which  fill 
ing  of  different  colors  could  be  used  in  weaving  with  the  fly- 
shuttle.  In  the  same  year,  James  Hargreaves  constructed  a 
carding-machine  corresponding  substantially  with  the  carding- 
machines  now  in  use.  Two  years  later,  Hargreaves  obtained 
a  patent  for  the  spinning-jenney,  which,  however,  seems  to 
have  been  invented?* in  1764,  by  Thomas  Highs. 

In  1769,  Richard  Arkwright  obtained  a  patent  for  his  spin 
ning  frame  or  throstle.  Six  years  later,  he  obtained  another 
patent  for  improvements  in  carding,  drawing  and  spinning.  In 
1779,  Robert  Peel,  father  of  the  celebrated  statesman,  obtained 
a  patent  for  improved  machinery  of  the  same  kind.  In  the 
same  year,  Samuel  Crompton  combined  the  excellencies  of 
Hargraves'  jenny  with  Arkwright's  throstle,  in  a  new  spin 
ning-machine,  which,  from  its  hybrid  nature,  he  called  a  mule. 

These  triumphs  of  inventive  skill  led  to  the  substitution, 
first,  of  horse-power  for  hand-power,  and  then  of  water-power 
for  horse-power.  The  year  1 789  was  signalized  by  the  appli 
cation  of  steam-power  to  manufacturing  purposes,  one  of  James 
Watt's  engines  being  introduced  in  a  factory  in  Manchester. 

In  1785,  the  Rev.  Samuel  Cartwright  took  out  his  first  pa 
tent  for  the  power-loom.  Other  similar  patents  were  after- 
3* 


30  HISTORY    OF    LOWELL. 

ward  taken  out  by  him  and  by  others ;  but  power-loom  weav 
ing  realized  only  partial  success  until  after  the  dressing-frame 
had  been  invented  by  Kadcliff,  Boss  and  Johnson  in  1803  ; 
and  1806  is  the  accepted  date  of  the  successful  introduction 
of  the  power-loom  into  Manchester  in  England. 

In  1785,  Thomas  Bell  obtained  his  patent  for  cylinder 
printing.  Calico  printing,  however,  had  been  introduced  by 
the  Claytons,  twenty  years  before.  In  the  same  year,  Berthol- 
let  first  applied  chlorine  (then  called  dephlogisticated  muri 
atic  acid)  to  bleaching.  But  Scheele,  a  Swedish  chemist,  had 
discovered  the  properties  of  chlorine  in  destroying  vegetable 
colors,  ten  years  prior  to  its  application  by  Berthollet  in  France. 

Thus,  as  an  able  writer  says,  "  while  Burke  was  lamenting 
the  fall  of  chivalry,  while  Hastings  was  extending  the 
British  Empire  in  the  East,  and  while  Pitt  was  initiating  his 
retrograde  policy,  men  of  that  class  which  was  destined  to 
reap  the  most  benefit  from  the  transformation,  were  inaugura 
ting  the  industrial  system,  destined  to  succeed  the  first,  utilize 
the  second,  and  destroy  the  third.  From  the  weaver's  cottage 
at  Blackburn,  and  from  the  barber's  shop  at  Preston,  went  forth 
powers  as  pregnant  with  consequences  to  Britain  [and  to  the 
world]  as  ever  issued  from  the  Parliament- House  at  Westmin 
ster,  or  the  Council- Chamber  in  Bengal."0 

Other  nations  followed.     In  France,  the  genius  of  Napoleon 

v    introduced  the  Cotton  Manufacture,   including  yarns,  cloths, 

and  prints.     "Before  the  Empire,  the  art  of  spinning  cotton 

was  not  known  in  France ;  and  cotton  clothes  were  imported 

from  abroad."f 

These  inventions  of  the  mechanical  genius  of  Europe  soon 
found  their  way  to  the  United  States.  .The  first  machinery 
for  carding  and  spinning  cotton  put  in  operation  in  this  coun 
try,  was  started  at  Beverly,  in  Massachusetts,  in  1787,  and 
was  driven  by  horse-power.  Other  cotton  factories  were  soon 

*  Westminster  Review,  April,  1861. 

t  Napoleon  the  Third's  Napoleonic  Ideas,  p.  69. 


HISTORY    OF    LOWELL.  31 

afterward  established  in  Connecticut,  Khode  Island,  New 
York,  Pennsylvania,  Delaware  and  New  Jersey.  But  the  year 
1793 — the  same  year  in  which  Eli  Whitney  gave  to  the  world 
his  invaluable  legacy  of  the  Cotton  Gin — is  the  generally  ac 
cepted  date  of  the  Cotton  Manufacture  in  the  United  States, 
since  it  was  during  that  year  that  Samuel  Slater — "  the  father 
of  the  Cotton  Manufacture  in  America" — started  his  first  cot 
ton  factory,  with  Arkwright  machinery,  driven  by  water- 
power,  at  Pawtucket  in  Khode  Island.  By  a  singular  coinci 
dence  of  dates,  in  the  same  year,  the  first  factory  in  this  coun 
try,  for  carding  and*  spinning  wool  by  machinery,  was  started 
at  By  field  in  Massachusetts. 

At  the  commencement  of  the  present  century,  the  cotton  and 
woollen  factories  of  Great  Britain  were  counted  by  hundreds : 
and,  perhaps,  a  dozen  such  factories  had  been  started  in  the 
United  States.0 

This  rapid  survey  of  the  rise  of  modern  manufactures  brings 
us  to  the  starting  of  the  first  carding  machine  in  the  region  of 
Lowell.  It  was  in  1801  that  Moses  Hale,  whose  father  had 
long  before  started  a  fulling  mill  in  Dracut,  established 
his  carding  mill  on  Eiver  Meadow  Brook, — the  first  enterprise 
of  the  kind  in  Middlesex  County.  This  mill  still  stands,  be 
tween  Hale's  Mills  and  Whipple's  Mills,  and  was  one  of  the 
mills  which  for  many  years  were  run  by  the  late  Joshua 
Mather,  a  native  of  Preston,  the  town  of  Kichard  Arkwright, 
the  great  inventor  and  systematizer  of  cotton-spinning  machin 
ery  in  England.  A  saw-mill  was  also  started  about  the  same 
time  by  Mr.  Hale,  on  the  same  stream. 

In  1805,  the  bridge  built  across  Merrimack  Eiver  at  Paw- 
tucket  Falls  in  1792,  was  demolished,  and  a  new  bridge,  with 
stone  piers  and  abutments,  constructed  in  its  place,  at  a  cost 
exceeding  fourteen  thousand  dollars.  This  bridge  is  still 


*See  Batchelder's  valuable  little  book  on  the  Cotton  Manufacture;  Bains' 
History  of  the  Cotton  Manufacture  in  Great  Britain ;  Bishop's  History  of  Amer 
ican  Manufactures ;  White's  Memoir  of  Samuel  Slater,  etc. 


32  HISTORY    OF    LOWELL. 

standing,  though  essential  improvements  have  been  made  in  it 
from  time  to  time.  It  was  made  free  in  1860. 

The  year  1812  brought  the  second  war  between  the  United 
States  and  Great  Britain,  when  British  cruisers  swept  our 
commerce  from  the  seas.  Until  then,  most  of  our  manufac 
tured  goods  had  been  imported  from  England.  Domestic  man 
ufactures  there  were  comparatively  none,  except  such. domestic 
fabrics  as  were  spun  upon  the  spinning-wheel,  and  woven  upon 
the  hand-loom,  by  the  dames  of  the  rural  districts.  No  sooner 
was  importation  stopped  by  the  war,  than  imported  fabrics 
commanded  famine  prices.  Public  attention  was  irresistibly 
attracted,  and  a  powerful  impetus  given,  to  American  manu 
factures.  Large  investments  of  capital  were  made  ;  and  mills 
started  up  all  over  the  Union,  but  more  especially  in  Massachu 
setts.  Such  of  them  as  were  started  here,  were  driven  by 
Concord  Kiver  power.  No  "  wizard  of  mechanism  "  had  yet 
laid  his  hand  on  the  lordly  Merrimack,  and  put  it  on  duty,  like 
a  chained  convict  or  a  galley  slave. 

In  1813,  twenty-six  years  after  the  first  attempt  in  the  United 
States  to  manufacture  cotton  by  machinery  was  made  at  Bev 
erly,  Captain  Phineas  Whiting  and  Major  Josiah  Fletcher 
erected  a  wooden  cotton-mill  on  the  present  site  of  the  Mid 
dlesex  Company's  mills,  at  an  outlay  of  about  three  thousand 
dollars,  and  carried  on  the  business  with  some  success.  John 
Golding  entered  upon  a  similar  enterprise  near  by,  about  the 
same  time,  but  failed. 

The  year  1815  is  associated  with  the  tradition  of  the  most 
disastrous  gale  that  had  swept  New  England  since  the  famous 
gale  of  1635,  when  the  tide  rose  twenty  feet  perpendicularly 
in  Narragansett  Bay.  It  was  particularly  severe  in  the  town 
of  Chelmsford,  then  including  Lowell.  It  "spread  the  ruin 
round,"  like  a  devastating  fire.  Not  less  than  fifty  thousand 
cords  of  standing  timber,  besides  several  houses,  were  de 
stroyed, — the  trees  being  torn  up  by  the  roots,  and  the  houses 
removed  from  their  foundations. 


HISTORY    OF    LOWELL,  33 

The  saw-niill  and  grist-mill  of  the  Messrs.  Bowers,  at  Paw- 
tucket  Falls,  were  started  in  1816.  About  the  same  time, 
another  grist-mill  was  started  by  Nathan  Tyler,  where  the 
Middlesex  Company's  Mill  No.  3  now  stands.  At  the  junction 
of  the  Concord  and  Merrimack  rivers,  stood  the  saw-mill  of 
Captain  John  Ford.  There  is  a  tradition,  not  very  well  au 
thenticated,  that  Captain  Ford  once  killed  an  Indian  by  pitch 
ing  him  into  the  wheel-pit  of  this  saw-mill ;  the  Indian  being 
on  the  watch  for  a  chance  to  take  the  life  of  the  captain,  who 
had  killed  one  of  his  brothers  during  a  former  war. 

In  1818,  Moses  Hale  started  the  powder-mills  on  Concord 
Kiver,  with  forty  pestles.  Mr.  Oliver  M.  Whipple  and  Mr. 
William  Tileston  of  Boston  engaged  in  the  business  with  Mr. 
Hale  in  1819.  In  1821,  Whipple's  Canal  was  opened  by 
them.  In  the  same  year,  Moses  Hale  disposed  of  his  interest 
in  the  business  to  David  Hale,  who  retained  his  connection 
with  it  till  1827,  when  he  in  turn  sold  out  to  his  partners,  and 
became  editor  of  the  New  York  Journal  of  Commerce.  Mr. 
Tileston  retired  in  1829,  and  Mr.  Whipple  remained  as  sole 
proprietor  till  1855,  when  the  manufacture  of  powder  was  dis 
continued  in  Lowell.  The  business  was  enlarged  from  time  to 
time,  and  was  in  its  zenith  during  the  Mexican  War.  Nearly 
a  million  pounds  of  powder  were  manufactured  here  during  a 
single  year  of  that  contest.  Mr.  Wliipple  amassed  a  handsome 
fortune  by  the  manufacture  of  this  "destructive  element." 
When  Mr.  Whipple  first  came  to  Lowell,  in  1818,  his  whole 
capital  was  but  six  hundred  dollars.  His  subsequent  success 
in  his  business  operations  entitles  him  to  a  high  place  among 
those  who,  without  the  aid  of  inherited  wealth,  make  their  own 
fortunes,  and  conquor  their  own  position  in  the  world. 

In  1818,  Thomas  Hurd  removed  to  East  Chelmsford  (as  we 
must  still  call  Lowell),  and  purchased  the  cotton  mill,  started 
five  years  before,  by  Whiting  &  Fletcher.  He  converted  it 
into  a  woollen  mill,  and  ran  sixteen  hand-looms  for  the  manu 
facture  of  satinets.  He  also  built  a  larger  brick  mill  for  the 


34  HISTORY    OF    LOWELL. 

manufacture  of  the  same  class  of-  goods.  Mr.  Hurd's  mill  was 
destroyed  by  fire,  and  rebuilt  in  1826.  About  this  time,  be 
ing  in  want  of  additional  power,  he  built  the  Middlesex  Canal, 
conveying  water  from  Pawtucket  Canal  to  his  satinet  mills. 
Mr.  Hurd  was  the  first  man  in  this  country  who  manufactured 
satinet  by  water-power,  having  had  a  mill  at  Stoneham  before 
he  came  to  Lowell.  He  continued  to  run  these  works  until  the 
great  re-action  of  trade  in  1828,  when  he  became  bankrupt, 
and  the  property,  in  1830,  passed  into  the  hands  of  the  Mid 
dlesex  Company. 

About  the  time  of  Mr.  Hurd's  appearance  here,  Winthrop 
Howe  started  a  mill  for  the  manufacture  of  flannels  at  Wam- 
esit  Falls  in  Belvidere.  Mr.  Howe  continued  to  manufacture 
flannels  by  hand-looms  till  1827,  when  he  sold  his  mill  to 
Harrison  Of.  Howe,  who  introduced  power-looms  in  lieu  of 
hand-looms,  and  continued  the  business  till  1831,  when  he 
sold  it  to  John  Nesmith  and  others. 

The  bridge  built  across  the  Concord  near  its  mouth  in  1774, 
was  demolished  in  1819,  and  its  place  supplied  by  a  superior 
structure.  The  bridge  on  East  Merrimack  Street,  connecting 
Belvidere  with  the  main  part  of  the  city,  stands  near  the  site  of 
the  bridge  of  1819,  the  last-named  bridge  having  been  several 
times  renewed. 

The  dam  across  Concord  Eiver  at  Massic  Falls,  where  Rich 
mond's  Batting  Mills  now  stand,  was  constructed  about  this 
time,  and  a  Forging  Mill  established,  by  Messrs.  Fisher  & 
Ames.  Their  works  were  considerably  extended  in  1823,  and 
continued  by  them  till  1836,  when  they  sold  their  privilege  to 
Perez  0.  Eichmond. 

While  new  men  were  thus  coming  to  this  place,  an  old  and 
distinguished  resident — Asahel  Stearns — removed  elsewhere. 
He  was  the  pioneer  lawyer  of  this  vicinity,  and  has  scarcely 
had  a  superior  among  all  his  successors.  He  was  born  at 
Lunenburg,  June  17,  1774,  and  graduated  at  Harvard  in  1797. 
He  was  educated  for  the  bar,  admitted  to  practice  about  1800, 
and  married  the  same  year.  He  opened  an  omce  near  Paw- 


HISTORY    OF    LOWELL.  35 

tucket  Falls,  where  he  practiced  law  till  1817.  He  was  for 
several  years  District  Attorney ;  Member  of  Congress  in  1815- 
1 7  ;  and  in  the  latter  year  was  appointed  Professor  of  Law  at 
Harvard,  which  position  in  1829  he  resigned.  He  published, 
in  1824-,  a  work  of  much  celebrity  on  the  Law  of  Keal  Ac 
tions,  and  was  a  Commissioner  with  Judge  Jackson  and  Mr. 
Pickering  to  revise  the  Statutes  of  the  Commonwealth.  He 
died  at  Cambridge,  February  5»,  1839,  in  the  sixty-fifth  year  of 
his  age.  He  was  a  learned  and  skillful  lawyer,  a  zealous  advo 
cate,  a  gentleman  of  suavity,  integrity  and  kindness. 

Within  a  few  years  after  the  removal  of  Mr.  Stearns,  occur 
red  the  death  of  the  most  distinguished  man  of  the  Merrimack 
Valley — Major-General  Yarnum  of  Dracut.  Born  in  1751, 
Joseph  B.  Yarnum  had  accomplished  the  "  three  score  years  and 
ten"  which  the  Psalmist  allots  to  man,  whenr  in  1821,  he  re 
ceived  that  summons  which  no  child  of  mortality  can  ever  dis 
obey.  The  record  of  his  life  shows  him  to  have  been  continu 
ally  in  office  ;  and  the  traditions  that  have  survived  him  repre 
sent  him  as  a  man  of  extraordinary  native  powers,  highly 
developed,  not  so  much  by  books  as  by  contact  with  men  and 
events.  He  was  a  Captain  of  Militia  at  the  age  of  eighteen, 
through  the  Eevolution,  and  until  1787,  when  he  became  a 
Colonel.  In  1802,  he  was  made  Brigadier-General,  and 
three  years  later  Major-General,  which  rank  he  retained  till 
his  death.  From  1780  to  1795,,  he  was  an  active  member  of 
the  Massachusetts  Legislature.  As  President  of  the  Senate, 
he  presided  at  the  trial  of  Judge  Prescott,  and  had  a  rough 
"  passage"  with  Daniel  Webster,  who  was  Prescott's  counsel. 
He  was  a  member  of  the  Convention  which  framed  the  State 
Constitution  in  1780,  and  of  the  Convention  which  revised  it 
in  1820.  From  1795  to  1817,  he  was  a  member  of  Congress; 
for  four  of  these  years  he  was  Speaker  of  the  House,  and  for 
one  year  he  was  President  pro  tempore  of  the  Senate.  The 
traveller  from  Lowell  on  the  Methuen  road  often  turns  aside,  in 
passing  through  Dracut,  to  read  his  epitaph  on  the  head-stone 
which  stands  where  his  ashes  repose. 


36  HISTORY    OF    LOWELL, 

CHAPTER  III. 

THE  FIRST  MANUFACTURING  CORPORATION. 

The  Waltham  Company— The  Lowell  Family— Judge  Lowell- John  Lowell- 
Francis  C.  Lowell — Patrick  T.  Jackson — Nathan  Appleton— Introduction 
of  the  Power-Loom — Paul  Moody — Death  of  Francis  C.  Lowell — John 
Lowell,  Junior. 

• 

ONE  of  the  most  interesting  events  connected  with  the  early 
history  of  the  Cotton  Manufacture  in  America,  was  the  intro 
duction  of  the  power-loom,  in  1814,  at  Waltham.  The  chief 
actor  in  this  enterprise  was  FRANCIS  CABOT  LOWELL,  from 
whom  our  city  was  so  appropriately  named.  Among  the  others 
were  Patrick  Tracy  Jackson,  Nathan.  Appleton,  and  Paul 
Moody,  who  afterward  became  the  fathers  of  Lowell,  and  in 
troduced  here  "  the  Waltham  system,"  in  all  its  details  of 
factory  machinery,  factory  hoarding-houses,  and  wages  paid 
monthly  in  cash.  Some  account  of  these  men  and  of  this 
Waltham  enterprise  must  therefore  be  given  before  we  proceed 
to  the  building  of  the  mills  at  Lowell. 

The  Lowells  are  among  the  most  distinguished  families  in 
America,  and  are  the  descendants  of  Percival  Lowell,  who 
emigrated  from  Cleaveland,  near  Bristol,  in  England,  and  set 
tled  in  Newbury  in  1639.  The  first  member  of  this  family 
who  achieved  any  particular  distinction  was  the  Hon.  John 
Lowell,  father  of  Francis  Cabot  Lowell,  and  son  of  the  Eev. 
John  Lowell,  the  first  minister  of  Newburyport.  He  was  a 
leading  member  of  the  Provincial  Assembly  in  1776,  and  of 
the  Convention  which  framed  the  Constitution  of  Massachu 
setts  in  1780.  He  was  the  principal  champion  of  the  move 
ment  for  the  abolition  of  slavery  in  this  State  in  1783, — an 
active  and  influential  member  of  the  Continental  Congress, — 
Judge  of  the  Court  of  Appeals  in  Admiralty,  appointed  by 
Congress, — and  the  first  Judge  of  the  District  Court  of  Mas 
sachusetts,  by  appointment  of  President  AVashington. 


HISTORY    OF    LOWELL.  37 

Judge  Lowell  died  in  1802.  His  sons  all  rose  to  distinc 
tion.  One  of  them,  John  Lowell,  always  refused  to  accept 
public  office,  but  wielded  a' controlling  influence  in  the  Federal 
party  for  more  than  twenty  years, — held  the  highest  rank  in 
the  profession  of  the  Law, — was  one  of  the  founders  of  the 
Massachusetts  General  Hospital,  the  Boston  Athenaeum,  the 
Boston  Savings  Bank,  the  Hospital  Life  Insurance  Company, 
and  other  institutions  for  the  public  good,  and  died  of  apo 
plexy  in  1 840,  at  the  age  of  seventy  years. 

Francis  Cabot  Lowell,  another  son  of  the  distinguished 
Judge  Lowell,  was  born  in  Newburyport,  April  7th,  1774,  and 
graduated  at  Harvard  in  1783.  He  engaged  in  mercantile 
business,  with  good  success,  in  Boston.  HIB  friend  and  asso 
ciate,  Patrick  Tracy  Jackson,  was  also  born  in  Newburyport,  in 
1780,  and  was  the  son  of  the  Hon.  Jonathan  Jackson,  who  was 
a  member  of  the  Continental  Congress  in  1782,  and  filled  other 
distinguished  positions  in  State  and  Nation.  As  Marshal  of 
the  District  of  Massachusetts,  by  appointment  of  President 
Washington,  the  father  of  Mr.  Jackson  served  the  monitions, 
etc.,  issued  by  the  father  of  Mr.  Lowell,  as  Judge  of  the  Dis 
trict  Court. 

Nathan  Appleton  was  one  year  senior  to  Mr.  Jackson,  and 
five  years  junior  to  Mr.  Lowell,  having  been  born  in  1779,  at 
New  Ipswich  in  New  Hampshire.  In  1794,  he  engaged  in 
commercial  pursuits,  at  Boston,  with  his  brother,  Samuel  Ap 
pleton,  whose  partner  he  became  as  soon  as  he  attained  his 
majority,  in  1800.  In  the  next  year,  business  called  him  to 
Europe.  While  in  France,  he  met  Napoleon  Bonaparte,  then 
firmly  seated  in  the  Consular  Chair,  and  preparing  to  ascend 
the  Imperial  Throne, — his  star  burning  brightly  in  the 
zenith,  —  his  brow  radiant  with  the  glory  of  Marengo. 
In  1810,  Appleton's  business  again  called  him  to  Europe. 
In  1811,  at  Edinburgh,  he  met  his  Boston  friend,  Francis 
Cabot  Lowell ;  and  the  meeting,  as  we  shall  see,  proved  prolific 
of  results. 
4 


38  HISTORY    OF    LOWELL. 

The  restraints  imposed  on  commerce,  which  finally  culmina 
ted  in  the  war  of  1812,  led  Mr.  Lowell  to  close  his  business  as 
a  merchant;  and  in  1810,  on  account  of  the  feebleness  of  his 
health,  he  visited  England  with  his  family,  and  spent  two 
years  in  that  country  and  in  Scotland.  While  there,  his  mind 
became  deeply  impressed  with  the  importance  of  manufactur 
ing  industry  as  a  source  of  national  wealth  ;  and  he  took  pains 
to  make  himself  master  of  all  the  information  that  was  obtain 
able,  touching  the  machinery  and  processes  that  had  been  in 
troduced  by  the  manufacturers  of  Great  Britain,  with  a  view 
to  their  introduction  into  the  United  States.  It  was  while  full 
of  these  plans  that  he  met  Mr.  Appleton  at  Edinburgh,  as 
already  stated.  Mr.  Appleton  entered  readily  into  his 
designs,  urged  him  to  go  on  with  them,  and  promised  coopera 
tion. 

In  1813,  Lowell  returned  to  Boston,  with  a  fixed  idea  that 
the  Cotton  Manufacture,  then  monopolized  by  Great  Britain, 
could  be  successfully  introduced  here.  He  saw  and  admitted 
that  the  advantages  of  cheap  labor,  abundant  capital,  superior 
skill,  and  established  reputation,  were  all  on  the  side  of  the 
English.  But  the  raw  cotton  could  be  procured  cheaper  here  ; 
water-power  was  more  abundant  than  in  England ;  and  he 
thought  that  the  superior  intelligence  and  enterprise  of  the 
American  population  would  ensure  the  success  of  the  Cotton 
Manufacture  in  these  States,  in  spite  of  the  competition  of  all 
Europe. 

Mr.  Lowell  communicated  these  ideas  to  his  brother-in-law 
and  fellow-townsman,  Patrick  Tracy  Jackson,  whose  business 
had  been  suspended  by  the  war  then  flagrant  between  Great 
Britain  and  the  United  States.  Jackson  eagerly  enlisted  in  the 
enterprise,  and  was  not  discouraged  by  difficulties  which  would 
have  thwarted  a  less  resolute  man.  The  result  was,  the  incor 
poration  of  Messrs.  Lowell,  Jackson,  Appleton  and  others  as 
the  Boston  Manufacturing  Company,  with  a  capital  of  one 
hundred  thousand  dollars,  followed  by  the  purchase  of  water- 


HISTORY    OF    LOWELL.  39 

power  at  Waltham,  and  the  successful  starting  of  the  power- 
loom  in  1814.* 

The  Waltham  power-loom,  in  so  far  as  it  differed  from  the 
power-loom  previously  introduced  in  Great  Britain,  was  the 
sole  product  of  Mr.  Lowell's  genius ;  and  his  success  is  the 
more  remarkable  from  the  fact  that  he  had  no  model  to  go  by, 
but  only  his  own  recollections  of  his  observations  in  Europe, 
aided  by  imperfect  drawings,  brought  with  him  on  his  return.  f 

Being  in  want  of  a  practical  mechanic,  Mr.  Lowell  and  his 
associates  secured  Paul  Moody,  whose  mechanical  skill  was 
well  known,  and  whose  success  fully  justified  the  choice.  Mr. 
Moody  was  born  in  Amesbury  in  1777,  and  had  been  for  some 
time  engaged  in  the  manufacturing  business  in  that  town,  in 
connection  with  Mr.  Ezra  Worthen.  His  aid  was  invaluable 
in  the  starting  of  the  first  mill  at  Waltham,  though  he  did 
not  remove  to  reside  there  till  1814. 

The  original  design  of  Messrs.  Lowell  and  Jackson  was  only 
to  start  a  weaving-mill,  and  to  buy  their  yarn  of  others.  No 
such  establishment  as  a  mill  where  raw  cotton  was  manufac 
tured  into  finished  cloth,  without  going  through  different 
hands,  and  forming  two  distinct  businesses,  was  then  dreamed 
of.  The  practice  was  to  run  spinning-mills  and  weaving-mills 
as  separate  establishments.  But  as  soon  as  their  loom  was 
completed,  they  found  it  expedient  to  spin  their  own  yarn, 
rather  than  to  buy  it  of  others.  They  accordingly  fitted  up 
a  mill  with  seventeen  hundred  spindles,  at  Waltham. 

Their  sizing-machine  they  constructed  by  improving  upon 
Horrock's  dressing-machine,  patented  in  England,  Mr.  Lowell 
and  Mr.  Moody  both  had  a  hand  in  the  invention  of  their 
double-speeder  for  spinning.  The  mathematical  scholarship  of 
Mr.  Lowell  was  as  indispensable  to  its  success  as  the  mechan- 

'-'  The  first  broad  power-loom  was  constructed  and  started  in  1817,  at  Gosh- 
en,  Conn.,  by  Lewis  M.  Norton,  who  obtained  the  idea  of  it  from  the  Edinburgh 
Encyclopaedia.  Mr.  Norton,  however,  realized  poor  success  in  the  manufacture 
of  broadcloth.  See  his  Letter  to  Samuel  Lawrence,  Lowell  Courier,  April  22, 
1843. 


40  HISTORY    OF    LOWELL. 

ical  ingenuity  of  Mr.  Moody.  The  peculiar  invention  of  Mr. 
Moody  was  the  filling- throstle.  The  machines  invented  or 
improved  by  these  ingenious  men  were  substantially  the  same 
as  those  now  in  use,  though  subsequent  inventions  have  still 
further  improved  and  perfected  them. 

The  enterprise  proved  a  splendid  success ;  the  capital  stock 
of  the  Company  was  increased,  first  to  four  hundred  thousand, 
and  afterward  to  six  hundred  thousand  dollars,  and  the  busi 
ness  extended  as  far  as  the  water-power  of  Waltham  and  Water- 
town  would  permit.  The  original  suggestion  and  most  of  the 
chief  plans  were  made  by  Mr.  Lowell,  who  was  the  informing 
soul  of  the  whole  proceeding;  and  when  the  enterprise  was 
fairly  started,  the  general  management  of  it  was  committed  to 
Mr.  Jackson. 

While  cotton  cloth  was  selling  at  thirty-three  cents  per 
yard,  Mr.  Lowell,  fired  with  the  presentiment  of  what  his 
plans  would  accomplish,  predicted  to  a  friend,  that  "  within 
fifty  years,  cotton  cloth  would  be  sold  for  four-pence  a  yard." 
The  prediction  was  called  "  visionary  "  then  ;  but  it  has  long 
since  been  realized.  Our  far-sighted  adventurers  were  fre 
quently  advised,  by  meddlesome  outsiders  and  gossiping  Mrs. 
Grundys,  that  they  would  soon  overdo  their  new  business.  No 
sooner  did  one  mill  send  forth  its  cloth,  than  all  agreed  that  it 
would  be  the  last.  The  markets  would  be  glutted.  Goods 
would  lie  by,  and  rot  in  the  warehouses.  Bankruptcy,  ruin, 
pauperism,  would  ensue.  But  our  adventurers  kept  right  on, 
paying  no  attention  to  the  Mrs.  Grundys.  True,  they  saw 
not  all  the  future,  nor  "half  the  wonders  that  would  be;" 
but  they  remained  firm  in  the  conviction  that  by  improved  ma 
chinery  they  could  compete  successfully  with  England  in  all 
the  markets  of  the  globe  ;  and  experience  has  proved  that  this 
conviction  was  not  without  foundation. 

The  peace  of  1815  proved  ruinous  to  many  of  our  manufac 
turers,  whose  business  had  been  greatly  inflated  by  the  war. 
In  1816,  a  new  tariff1  was  to  be  made;  and  Mr.  Lowell  visited 


HISTORY    OF    LOWELL.  41 

Washington,  to  impress  upon  members  of  Congress  the  impor 
tance,  the  prospects  and  the  dangers  of  the  Cotton  Manufac 
ture,  and  the  policy  of  shielding  it  from  foreign  competition 
by  legislative  protection.  Constitutional  objections  have  often, 
in  more  recent  times,  been  urged  against  the  protective  system. 
No  objection  of  this  kind  was  then  heard  of.  The  New  Eng 
land  States  were  too  exclusively  engaged  in  commerce  to  listen 
to  him  ;  but  the  Middle  States  favored  the  new  plan.  The 
States  of  the  West  were  divided ;  the  South,  as  usual,  held  the 
balance  of  power ;  and  Mr.  Lowell's  appeal  to  the  interests  of 
the  Southern  planters  prevailed.  The  famous  minimum  duty 
of  6 1  cents  per  square  yard  on  imported  cotton  fabrics  was 
proposed  by  Mr.  Lowell,  recommended  by  Mr.  Lowndes,  advo 
cated  by  Mr.  Calhqun,  and  incorporated  into  the  tariff  of  1816. 

In  this  way,  American  Manufactures  were  protected  from 
British  competition,  and  nursed  into  a  vigorous  life.  It  is  to 
this  provision  of  law,  says  Mr.  Everett,  that  "  New  England 
owes  that  branch  of  industry  which  has  made  her  amends  for 
the  diminution  of  her  foreign  trade  ;  which  has  kept  her  pros 
perous  under  the  exhausting  drain  of  her  population  to  the 
West ;  which  has  brought  a  market  for  his  agricultural  pro 
duce  to  the  farmer's  door ;  and  which,  while  it  has  conferred 
these  blessings  on  this  part  of  the  country,  has  been  produc 
tive  of  good,  and  nothing  but  good,  to  every  portion  of  it." 

The  whole  credit  of  this  policy  is  due  to  Mr.  Lowell.  But 
he  did  not  live  to  witness  the  realization  of  his  plans.  "  Man 
proposes,  but  God  disposes."  He  died  in  Boston,  September 
2d,  1817,  at  the  age  of  forty-three;  and  committed  to  others 
the  completion  of  his  vast  designs.  Like  his  brother,  the  em 
inent  lawyer,  he  shunned  public  office ;  but  he  contributed 
more  than  a  thousand  of  the  common  herd  of  hum-drum  states 
men  to  the  advancement  of  national  industry  and  well-being. 
As  Mr.  Everett  eloquently  says:  "In  the  great  Temple  of 
Nature, — whose  foundations  are  the  earth, — whose  pillars  are 
the  eternal  hills, — whose  roof  is  the  star-lit  sky, — whose  organ 
40 


42  HISTORY   OF   LOWELL. 

tones  are  the  whispering  "breeze  and  the  sounding  storm, — 
whose  architect  is  God, — there  is  no  ministry  more  sacred  than 
that  of  the  INTELLIGENT  MECHANIC. "° 

His  son,  John  Lowell,  was  worthy  of  his  sire.  Wander 
ing  amid  the  ruins  of  Thebes,  and  feeling  the  approaches  of 
death,  by  his  last  will,  "  penned  with  a  tired  hand  on  the  top 
of  a  palace  of  the  Pharaohs,"  he  made  a  princely  bequest  of 
$240,000  to  found  the  Lowell  Institute  at  Boston. 


CHAPTEB    IV. 

MANUFACTURING    HISTORY    OF    LOWELL. 

Purchase  of  Pawtucket  Canal — First  Visit— Merrimack  Company— Recon-struc- 
tion  of  the  Canal— Kirk  Boott— Ezra  Worthen— Paul  Moody— Warren  Col- 
burn — Calico  Printing — John  D.  Prince — Management  of  the  Merrimack 
Company — Re-organization  of  the  Locks  and  Canals  Company — James  B. 
Francis— Hamilton  Company— Samuel  Batchelder  —  Management  of  the 
Hamilton  —  Appleton  Company  —  Lowell  Company  —  Proposed  Reform  in 
Sales — Middlesex  Company — Ruin  and  Re-organization — Suffolk  Company 
— Tremont — Lawrence — Bleachery — Boott  Company — Belvidere  Company — 
Perez  O.  Richmond — Massachusetts  Company — Dismissal  of  Operatives — 
Men  of  whom  more  might  have  been  made — Whitney  Mills — Machine  Shop 
— Prescott  Company — Miscellaneous  Manufacturers  and  Mechanics — In 
creased  Productivity  in  the  Future. 

In  1821,  Messrs.  Appleton  and  Jackson,  elated  with  the 
splendid  success  of  their  establishment  at  Waltham,  were  look 
ing  about  for  water-power  for  operations  on  a  more  gigantic 
scale.  In  September,  1821,  they  examined  the  water-fall  at 
Souhegan,  but  found  it  insufficient.  In  returning,  they  passed 
the  Nashua  Eiver,  but  they  were  not  aware  of  the  existence  of 
the  fall  which  the  Nashua  Company  have  since  improved ; 

*  See  Edward  Everett's  Memoir  of  John  Lowell;  Robert  C.  Winthrop's 
Memoir  of  Nathan  Appleton;  John  A.  Lowell's  Memoir  of  Patrick  T.  Jackson; 
Nathan  Appleton's  Introduction  of  the  Power-Loom  and  Origin  of  Lowell,  etc. 


HISTORY    OF    LOWELL.  43 

neither  were  they  aware  of  the  existence  of  the  water-power 
of  the  Pawtucket  Canal.  Shortly  afterwards,  Mr.  Moody, 
while  on  a  visit  to  Amesbury,  mentioned  to  Ezra  Worthen 
that  the  company  at  Waltham  were  in  quest  of  water-power. 
Mr.  Worthen  had  been  familiar  with  Pawtucket  Falls  from  his 
boyhood,  and  very  naturally  replied,  "Why  don't  they  buy  up 
Pawtucket  Canal  ?  That  will  give  them  all  the  power  of  Mer- 
rimack  Eiver.  They  can  put  up  as  many  mills  as  they  please 
there,  and  never  want  for  water." 

On  returning  to  Waltham,  Mr.  Moody  went  out  of  his  way 
to  look  at  the  canal,  and  Mr.  Worthen  accompanied  him.  Ar 
riving  at  Waltham,  they  related  to  Mr,  Jackson  a  description 
of  the  place,  and  Mr.  Worthen  chalked  out  upon  the  floor  a 
map  of  Merrimack  River,  including  both  Pawtucket  Falls  and 
the  Canal.  Mr.  Jackson  listened  eagerly  to  their  story,  and  was 
soon  convinced  that  a  large  manufacturing  town  could  here  be 
built  up.  The  great  idea  of  possessing  himself  of  the  whole 
power  of  Merrimack  River  filled  his  mind ;  and  with  charac 
teristic  sagacity,  he  at  once  put  himself  in  communication  with 
Thomas  M.  Clark,  of  Newburyport,  the  Agent  of  the  Pawtucket 
Canal  Company,  and  secured  the  refusal  of  most  of  the  shares 
of  the  stock  of  that  Company  at  less  than  par. 

Mr.  Appleton  and  Kirk  Boott  entered  eagerly  into  the  en 
terprise  with  Mr.  Jackson,  and,  through  the  agency  of  Mr. 
Clark  and  others,  all  the  stock  of  the  Canal  Company  was 
purchased,  and  some  of  thB  lands  needed  for  using  th«  water- 
power.  But  the  wisest  men  cannot  foresee  everything.  Four 
farms,  containing  about  four  hundred  acres,  covering  what  is 
now  the  most  densely  peopled  portion  of  Lowell,  were  bought 
at  from  one  to  two  hundred  dollars  per  acre  ;  and  most  of  the 
lands  thus  purchased  were  afterward  sold  at  from  twelve  cents 
to  a  dollar  per  foot.  But  there  was  a  great  deal  more  land 
which  the  founders  of  Lowell  then  overlooked;  and  when 
these  lands  were  wanted,  the  proprietors  were  shrewd  enough 
to  fix  their  own  prices,  and  at  a  pretty  high  figure  too. 


44  HISTORY    OF    LOWELL. 

The  value  of  land  was  of  course  suddenly  largely  enhanced. 
For  example : — Nine  undivided  tenths  of  the  Moses  Cheever 
farm  were  bought  in  1821  for  eighteen  hundred  dollars  ;  and 
the  owner  of  the  other  one-tenth  had  agreed  to  convey  the  same 
for  two  hundred  dollars.  Before  he  had  conveyed  it,  however, 
he  died,  suddenly,  insolvent ;  and  the  one-tenth  was  sold  by 
order  of  court.  But  such  had  been  the  increase  in  its  value, 
that  the  Locks  and  Canals  Company  paid  upward  of  three 
thousand  dollars  for  seven  and  a  half-tenths  of  it ;  and  the  re 
maining  two  and  a  half-tenths  were  sold,  one  year  afterward, 
for  upward  of  five  thousand  dollars.0 

In  November,  1821,  Nathan  Appleton,  Patrick  T.  Jackson, 
Kirk  Boott,  Warren  Button,  Paul  Moody,  and  John  W.  Boott, 
made  a  visit  to  the  canal,  perambulated  the  ground,  and  scan 
ned  the  capabilities  of  the  place  ;  and  the  remark  was  made 
that  some  of  them  might  live  to  see  the  place  contain  twenty 
thousand  inhabitants.  Nathan  Appleton  did,  indeed,  live  to 
see  it  contain  nearly  forty  thousand.  Here,  in  the  vicinity 
of  Boston,  was  a  river,  with  a  water-shed  of  four  thousand 
square  miles,  delivering  its  volume  of  water  over  a  fall  of 
thirty  feet.  Evidently,  the  Manchester  of  America  was  to  be 
here. 

On  the  fifth  of  February,  1822,  these  gentlemen  and  others 
were  incorporated  as  the  Merrimack  Manufacturing  Company, 
with  Warren  Button  as  President.  Their  capital,  at  first,  was 
$600,000  ;  but  this  capital  has  been  four  times  increased,  and 
is  now  $2,500,000.  The  first  business  of  the  new  company 
was  to  erect  the  dam  across  the  Merrimack  at  Pawtucket  Falls, 
widen  and  deepen  Pawtucket  Canal,  renew  the  locks,  and  open 
a  lateral  canal  from  the  main  canal  to  the  river,  on  the  margin 
of  which  their  mills  were  to  stand.  Five  hundred  men  were 
employed  in  digging  and  blasting,  and  six  thousand  pounds  of 
powder  were  used.  The  canal,  as  reconstructed,  is  sixty  feet 

*  Miles's  Lowell  as  it  Was  ami  as  it  Is. 


HISTORY    OF    LOWELL.  45 

wide,  and  eight  feet  deep,  and  capable  of  supplying  fifty  mills. 
It  has  three  sets  of  locks. 

In  deepening  this  canal,  ledges  were  uncovered,  which 
showed  indisputable  marks  of  the  attrition  of  water.  Many 
cavities  were  found  in  the  ledge,  such  as  are  usual  where  there 
are  water-falls,  worn  by  stones  kept  in  motion  by  the  water. 
Some  of  these  cavities  measured  a  foot  or  more  in  diameter, 
and  two  feet  in  depth.  Here  had  once  been  the  channel  of  the 
Merrimack.  9 

The  first  mill  of  the  company  was  completed,  and  the  first 
wheel  started,  September  1st,  1823.  The  first  return  of  cloth 
was  made  in  the  following  November.  The  bricks  used  in 
building  the  mills  of  this  and  the  succeeding  manufacturing 
corporations,  were  boated  chiefly  from  Bedford  and  Merrimack, 
in  New  Hampshire. 

The  first  Treasurer  and  Agent  was  Kirk  Boott.  He  was 
born  in  Boston  in  1791,  and  received  an  academic  education 
at  the  famous  Bugby  School  in  England.  He  entered  Harvard 
College,  but  never  graduated.  His  tastes  being  military,  a 
commission  was  purchased  for  him  ;  and  he  served  five  years 
as  an  officer  in  the  British  Army.  He  fought  under  Welling 
ton  in  the  Peninsular  War,  and  commanded  a  detachment  of 
troops  at  the  siege  of  San  Sebastian,  in  1813.  His  courage 
was  perfectly  bullet-proof.  When  the  wars  of  Napoleon  ended 
with  his  captivity  at  St.  Helena,  Boott  resigned  his  commis 
sion,  and,  in  1817,  returned  to  Boston.  Through  the  intimacy 
that  arose  between  him  and  Mr.  Jackson,  while  the  latter  was 
agent  of  the  mills  at  Waltham,  he  was  employed  as  the  com 
pany's  agent.  He  established,  himself  here  in  the  spring  of 
1822,  took  charge  of  the  mills,  and  infused  into  the  whole 
place  much  of  his  own  determined  spirit  and  unconquerable 
will.  He  became,  by  the  general  consent  of  all,  the  man  of 
the  place,  so  that  for  fifteen  years  the  history  of  Lowell  was 
little  more  than  the  biography  of  Kirk  Boott. 


46  HISTORY    OF    LOWELL. 

Ezra  Worthen  removed  here  at  the  same  time  with  Mr. 
Boott,  and  his  services  as  superintendent  were  of  inestimable 
value.  Like  Mr.  Lowell,  Mr.  Worthen  was  not  permitted  to 
see  even  "the  beginning  of  the  end  "  of  his  plans.  He  died 
June  18th,  1824. 

Mr.  Moody  also  removed  here  from  Waltham,  in  1823,  and 
took  the  charge  of  the  company's  machine  shop.  This  shop 
was  completed  in  1825,  and  cost  one  hundred  and  fifty  thou- 
§and  dollars.  He  remained  in  this  position  during  a  period  of 
eight  years,  when  his  labors  were  terminated  by  death,  July 
5th,  1831.  Born  and  bred  a  mechanic,  Mr.  Moody  was  none  the 
less  a  gentleman.  Skill  in  mechanism  was  his  forte  ;  but  his 
general  capacity  was  large ;  and  when  he  died,  all  felt  that 
one  of  the  ablest  citizens,  and  one  of  the  most  estimable  men, 
had  fallen. 

The  place  left  vacant  by  Mr.  Worthen,  in  1824,  was  subse 
quently  filled  by  Warren  Colburn,  the  distinguished  author  of 
a  series  of  popular  school-books  on  Arithmetic.  Mr.  Colburn 
was  born  in  Dedham  in  1793,  and  graduated  at  Harvard  Uni 
versity  in  1820,  at  the  ripe  age  of  twenty-seven  years.  He 
was  distinguished  while  at  college  for  his  assiduous  devotion 
to  the  mathematics.  After  graduating,  he  engaged  as  a  school 
teacher  in  Boston,  and  while  thus  employed  prepared  those 
works  on  Arithmetic  which  have  forever  intimately  associated 
his*name  with  that  science.  Prior  to  Mr.  Worthcn's  decease, 
Mr.  Colburn  had  acquired  some  experience  in  charge  of  the 
mills  at  Waltham.  His  abilities  were  such  as  amply  enabled  him 
to  fill  Mr.  Worthen' s  place.  "  He  readily  perceived  and  appre 
ciated  the  peculiar  character  of  a  manufacturing  community  in 
New  England,  and  projected  at  once  a  scheme  of  lecturing, 
adapted  to  popular  improvement."0  He  actually  delivered  in 
Lowell  several  courses  of  the  best  Lyceum  Lectures,  several 
years  before  any  popular  Lyceums  were  organized  at  all.  He 

*  See  Edson's  excellent  Memoir  of  Warren  Colburn,  in  Barnard's  American 
Journal  of  Education,  September,  1856. 


JOHN   J).    PJRINCE. 


HISTORY    OP    LOWELL.  47 

died  September  13th,  1833.  Though  he  filled  no  higher  offi 
ces  than  those  of  factory  superintendent,  church  warden, 
school  committee,  college  committee,  lyceum  lecturer  and  writer 
of  school-books,  Mr.  Colburn  was  nevertheless  one  of  the  great 
men  of  America.  Here  he  will  be  especially  remembered  for 
his  efforts,  in  connection  with  Rev.  Dr.  Edson,  to  build  up, 
upon  a  permanent  basis,  that  complete  system  of  public  schools, 
which  is  the  pride  of  the  place. 

The  successors  of  Mr.  Colburn  as  Superintendents  of  the 
Merrimack  Mills  have  been,  from  1833  to  1848,  John  Clark  ; 
in  1848,  Emory  Washburn,  afterward  Governor  of  the  Com 
monwealth  ;  in  1849,  Edmund  Le  Breton ;  from  1850  to  1866, 
Isaac  Hinckley,  who  was  succeeded  by  John  C.  Palfrey. 

The  founders  of  the  Merrrimaek  Company  had  from  the 
first  contemplated  the  introduction  of  calico-printing.  "  I  was 
of  opinion,"  says  Appleton,  "  that  the  time  had  arrived,  when 
the  manufacture  and  printing  of  calicos  might  be  successfully 
introduced  into  this  country."0  And  although  calicos  were 
probably  printed  at  Taunton  and  Dover  before  they  were  at 
Lowell,  the  attempt  was  first  begun  here,  under  Allan  Pol 
lock.  The  printing  business,  however,  was  not  perfected  to 
any  considerable  degree  until  1826,  when  the  late  John  D. 
Prince,  senior,  resigned  his  position  at  Manchester  in  Eng 
land  to  take  the  Superintendency  of  the  Merrimack  Print 
Works.  Here  he  remained  till  1855,  when  Henry  W.  Bur 
rows  succeeded  him.  The  skill  of  Mr.  Prince,  assisted  by  Dr. 
Samuel  L.  Dana  as  chemist,  won  for  the  Merrimack  Prints  an 
unequalled  renown  in  all  parts  of%he  globe.  On  his  retire 
ment,  the  Company  gave  him  an  annuity  of  $2,000  per  annum. 
He  did  not,  however,  live  long  to  enjoy  it,  but  died  suddenly, 
January  5th,  1860,  at  the  age  of  eighty  years,  leaving  to  us, 
and  to  the  Lowellians  of  the  future,  the  grateful  memory  of  a 
1  fine  old  English  gentlemen, — "one  of  the  real  old  stock/' — 

*  Origin  of  Lowell,  p.  17. 


48  HISTORY    OF    LOWELL. 

who  dispensed  to  bis  friends  a  baronial  hospitality,  and  to  the 
poor  a  charity  that  was  as  liberal  as  his  own  resources. 

The  Merrimack  Company  have  divided  upon  an  average  a 
dividend  of  thirteen  per  cent,  on  their  stock.  For  many  years, 
fabrics  bearing  their  imperial  name  have  commanded  a  cent 
a  yard  more  than  the  fabrics  of  other  companies  equal  in  cost 
and  equal  in  intrinsic  quality.  Such  a  result  can  only  be  as 
cribed  to  the  consummate  ability  of  the  Company's  managers. 
Voltaire  said,  he  knew  many  merchants  in  Amsterdam,  of  more 
penetration  and  administrative  ability  than  Ximenes,  Mazarin 
or  Eichelieu.  So  may  we  say,  that  the  men  whose  sagacity 
achieved  such  remarkable  success  in  the  business  of  manufac 
turing,  were  men  of  far  higher  calibre  than  those  who  have 
generally  presided  over  the  Executive  Departments  at  Wash 
ington. 

During  the  late  War,  however,  the  Merrimack  Company 
showed  great  "  lack  of  sagacity  and  forethought "° — in  stopping 
their  mills  — in  dismissing  their  operatives  —  in  discontinuing 
the  purchase  of  cotton  —  and  in  selling  their  fabrics  at  a  slight 
advance  on  their  peace  prices,  and  at  less  than  the  actual  cost 
of  similar  fabrics  at  the  time  of  sale.  Had  they  not  committed 
this  stupendous  blunder,  they  might  have  realized  many  mil 
lions  of  dollars  during  the  War.  But  instead  of  boldly  run 
ning,  as  companies  elsewhere  did,  they  took  counsel  of  their 
fears,  and  their  spacious  mills  stood  on  the  bank 

"As  idle  as  a  painted  ship  upon  a  painted  ocean." 

The  blunders  of  this  company  were  naturally  copied  by 
others — the  younger  companies  being  accustomed  to  "  dress  "  on 
the  Merrimack.  In  this  instance,  the  blunders  of  the  older 
company  were  not  only  copied,  but  exaggerated  and  intensified 
to  a  fatal  degree.  The  other  cotton  companies  actually  sold 
out  their  cotton,  and  several  of  them  made  abortive  experiments 
in  other  branches  of  manufactures,  by  which  they  incurred 

*  Report  of  the  Committee  of  the  Proprietors,  1863. 


HISTORY    OF    LOWELL.  49 

losses,  direct  and  indirect,  exceeding  the  amount  of  their  en 
tire  capital.  It  is  but  fair  to  add,  that  most  of  these  abortive 
experiments  were  made  in  opposition  to  the  judgment  of  the 
local  agents. 

The  Merrimack  have  five  mills  and  print  works,  with  100,- 
000  spindles,  and  2,450  looms.  When  all  are  in  operation, 
they  employ  1,700  females  and  700  males.  Their  weekly  con 
sumption  of  cotton  is  80,000  pounds,  and  their  return  of 
cloth  450,000  yards.  They  print  500,000  yards  per  week  of 
Prints,  No.  30  to  37,  and  Chintzes. 

In  1825,  the  old  Locks  and  Canals  Company  of  1792  was 
reestablished  .as  a  separate  corporation.  The  Merrimack  Com 
pany,  at  the  time  of  their  incorporation,  owned  the  original 
charter  of  the  Locks  and  Canals  Company,  the  entire  water- 
power  of  Merrimack  Eiver,  and  the  lands  abutting  thereon. 
The  Proprietors  of  the  Locks  and  Canals  were  now  reorganized, 
with  an  amendment  to  their  charter,  allowing  them  to  purchase, 
hold,  sell  or  lease  land  and  water-power,  to  the  amount  of 
$600,000.  The  Merrimack  Company  conveyed  to  the  Locks 
and  Canals  Company  all  their  water-power  and  all  their  lands  ; 
and  then  so  much  of  it  as  was  required  for  their  own  purposes, 
was  reconveyed  to  the  Merrimack  Company.  By  this  arrange 
ment,  the  Merrimack  Company  was  placed  upon  the  same  basis 
as  other  manufacturing  companies  more  recently  established. 
The  Locks  and  Canals  Company  had  other  objects  to  pur 
sue.  The  affairs  of  this  company,  in  addition  to  those  of  the 
Merrimack,  were  placed  in  the  master  hand  of  Kirk  Boott.  On 
the  death  of  Mr,  Boott,  in  1837,  Joseph  Tilden  became  Agent 
for  one  year,  when  Patrick  T.  Jackson  succeeded  him.  Mr. 
Jackson  was  succeeded  for  a  short  time  by  William  Boott.  In 
1845,  James  B.  Francis  was  appointed  Agent,  and  in  this  posi 
tion,  which  he  has  ever  since  retained,  he  has  earned  the  dis 
tinction  of  the  best  water-engineer  in  the  United  States.  He 
had  been  eleven  years  engineer  of  this  company,  when  the  duties 
of  Agent  were  superadded  to  his  duties  as  engineer.  At  first, 
5 


50  HISTOKY    OF    LOWELL. 

he  was  associated  with  that  excellent  engineer,  George  W. 
Whistler,  father  of  James  Whistler,  the  gifted  artist. 

For  twenty  years,  the  business  of  this  company  was,  to  fur 
nish  land  and  water-power,  and  build  mills  and  machinery  for 
the  various  manufacturing  companies  successively  organized  in 
Lowell.  After  all  the  mill-powers  were  disposed  of,  another  re 
organization  took  place.  The  standard  adopted  for  a  mill-power 
was  the  power  required  to  run  the  second  mill  built  at  Waltham, 
which  contained  3584  spindles, — or  the  right  to  draw  twenty- 
five  cubic  feet  of  water  per  second,  on  a  fall  of  thirty  feet,  be 
ing  about  sixty  horse  power.  Cf  This  company  have  never  en 
gaged  in  manufacturing  operations.  They  kept  in  operation 
two  machine  shops,  a  foundry,  and  a  saw-mill,  until  1845, 
when  the  Lowell  Machine  Shop  was  incorporated  to  take 
the  charge  of  this  business.  They  constructed  all  the  mill-canals 
to  supply  the  various  companies  with  water-power,  and  erected 
most  of  the  mills,  and  the  boarding-houses  attached  to  them, 
together  with  most  of  the  machinery  which  they  severally  con 
tain.  They  employed  constantly  from  five  to  twelve  hundred 
men,  and  built  two  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  dollars  worth 
of  machinery  per  annum.  The  stock  was  long  the  best  of  which 
Lowell  could  boast,  being  worth  thrice,  and  even  four  times  its 
par  value.  Their  present  business  is  to  superintend  the  use 
of  the  water-power,  which  is  leased  by  them  to  the  several  com 
panies.  Their  stock  is  held  by  these  companies  in  the  same 
proportion  in  which  they  hold  the  water-power. 

The  first  sale  of  water-power  was  to  the  Hamilton  Manufac 
turing  Company,  incorporated  in  1825,  with  a  capital  of  $600,- 
000,  afterward  increased  to  $1,200,000.  The  first  Agent  of 
this  Company  was  Samuel  Batchelder.  It  was  under  his  skill 
ful  management  that  the  power-loom  was  here  first  applied  to 
twilled  and  fancy  goods,  and  that  cotton  drills  were  first  man 
ufactured.  Mr.  Batchelder  was  born  at  Jaffrey,  in  New  Hamp 
shire,  in  1784,  five  years  before  the  first  cotton  mill  was  started 

0  Appleton's  Origin  of  Lowell,  p.  28. 


HISTORY    OF    LOWELL.  51 

in  America.  He  assisted  in  starting  one  of  the  first  cotton 
mills  in  his  native  State,  in  1807.  On  quitting  the  Hamilton, 
he  assisted  in  establishing  the  York  Mills  at  Saco,  Maine,  of 
which  he  has  been  for  many  years  Treasurer,  as  well  as  of  the 
Everett  Mills  at  Lawrence.  With  his  remarkable  business 
habits,  he  has  always  combined  the  love  of  books ;  and  his 
work  on  the  Cotton  Manufacture  is  one  of  the  most  valuable 
contributions  yet  made  to  the  literature  of  that  prolific  theme. 
Mr.  Batchelder  was  followed  in  the  Agency  of  the  Hamilton,  in 
1831,  by  the  late  John  Avery,  to  whom  in  1864  Oliver  H. 
Moulton  succeeded. 

Following  the  example  of  the  Merrimack,  the  Hamilton 
Company  established  Print  Works,  of  which  the  late  William 
Spencer  was  Superintendent  till  his  death,  September  27th, 
1862.  William  Hunter  was  then  appointed  Superintendent, 
and  to  him  in  1863  succeeded  William  Harley. 

The  management  of  the  Hamilton  during  the  War  was  par 
ticularly  unfortunate.  Not  only  were  the  mistakes  of  the 
Merrimack  repeated  here ;  but — what  was  worse — when  the 
War  was  drawing  to  a  close,  the  Hamilton  threw  out  a  large 
portion  of  their  cotton  machinery,  and  put  in  a  lot  with  which 
to  manufacture  woollen  goods,  and  purchased  a  large  stock  of 
fine  wool,  paying  for  this  machinery  and  wool  the  ruinous 
prices  which  the  War  had  entailed.  Thus,  they  superadded  to 
their  losses  by  the  War,  a  new  category  of  losses  caused  by 
the  collapse  of  prices  on  the  return  of  peace. 

The  Hamilton  have  five  mills  and  print  works,  with  51,268 
spindles  and  1,348  looms,  requiring  the  labor  of  850  females 
and  425  males.  Their  weekly  consumption  of  cotton  is  50,000 
pounds,  and  of  clean  wool  10,000.  Their  weekly  product  is 
235,000  yards  of  Delaines,  Flannels,  Prints,  Ticks,  Sheetings, 
&nd  Shirtings,  No,  10  to  No,  53.  The  number  of  yards  printed 
per  week  is  120,000,  and  the  number  dyed  is  6,000, 

In  1828,  .the  Appleton  Company  was  incorporated, 
with  a  capital  of  $600,000.  John  Avery  was  their  Agent 


52  HISTORY    OF    LOWELL. 

till  1831,  when  George  Motley  succeeded  him.  It  was  in  the 
mills  of  this  company  that  Uriah  A.  Boyden's  famous  turbine 
water-wheels  were  first  used  with  success.0  Though  the  man 
agers  of  the  Appleton,  during  the  late  War,  shared,  for  a  time, 
the  delusion  that  the  country  would  have  "peace  in  sixty 
days,"  and  under  that  delusion  sold  their  cotton,  and  allowed 
their  mills  to  stand  idle,  they  acquired,  quicker  than  many 
others,  a  true  view  of  the  national  situation  ;  and  the  manage 
ment  of  this  company,  when  tested  by  its  results  during  a  pe 
riod  of  nearly  forty  years,  must  be  pronounced  successful  in 
an  eminent  degree. 

The  Appleton  have  three  mills,  with  20,608  spindles,  and 
717  looms.  They  employ,  when  running  to  their  full  capacity, 
400  females  and  120  males.  Their  weekly  consumption  of 
cotton  is  50,000  pounds,  and  their  weekly  return  of  cloth  is 
130,000  yards  of  Sheetings  and  Shirtings,  Nos.  14  and  20. 

In  1828,  the  Lowell  Manufacturing  Company  was  incorpo 
rated,  with  a  capital  of  $900,000,  since  increased  to  $2,000,- 
000.  In  starting  their  jacquard  looms  they  employed  Clau 
dius  Wilson,  one  of  the  most  ingenious  and  liseful  mechanics 
that  has  ever  appeared  in  Lowell,  who  emigrated  from  Scot 
land  to  enter  this  company's  service.  This  company's  mills 
were  the  first  in  the  world  where  power-looms  were  introduced 
for  weaving  woollen  carpets.  These  looms  were  invented  by 
E.  B.  Bigelow,  and  rank  among  the  most  wonderful  triumphs 
of  mechanical  genius  the  world  has  ever  witnessed.  Alexander 
Wright  was  Agent  of  this  Company  till  his  death  in  1852, 
when  Samuel  Fay  succeeded  him. 

In  1859,  a  discussion  arose  among  the  stockholders  touch 
ing  the  mode  of  selling  their  products.  An  attempt  was  made 
to  make  the  selling  agents  personally  interested  in  augmenting 
their  sales,  and  enhancing  the  income  from  the  company's 


Francis'  Lowell  Hydraulic  Experiments, 


HISTORY    OF    LOWELL.  53 

stock.0     This  change  has  "been  successfully  made  by  the  Mid 
dlesex,  but  has  not  yet  been  adopted  by  the  Lowell. 

The  Lowell  haye  one  carpet  mill,  one  worsted  mill,  and  one 
cotton  mill.  The  number  of  spindles  run  is  12,500  on  worsted 
and  wool,  and  2,816  on  cotton.  They  employ  1,000  females 
and  450  males,  and  consume  4,000  pounds  of  cotton,  and  63,- 
000  of  clean  wool,  per  week.  Their  productive  power  is  35,- 
000  yards  of  Carpets,  13,000  of  Sheetings,  and  4,500  of 
Stuffed  Goods,  per  week.  They  have  432  looms,  of  which 
258  weave  Carpets,  124  Cottons,  and  50  Stuffed  Goods. 

In  1830,  Samuel  Lawrence,  William  W.  Stone,  and  others 
were  incorporated  as  the  Middlesex  Company,  with  a  capital 
of  $500,000, — afterward  increased  to  $1,000,000,  but  subse 
quently  reduced  to  $750,000, — and  engaged  in  the  manufac 
ture  of  broadcloths,  cassimeres,  etc.  James  Cook  was  the 
Agent  of  this  Company's  mills  for  fifteen  years.  He  was  suc 
ceeded,  in  1845,  by  Nelson  Palmer, — in  1846,  by  Samuel 
Lawrence, — and  in  1848,  by  Oliver  H.  Perry,  who  retained 
the  Agency  for  three  years.  In  1851,  William  T.  Mann  be 
came  Agent,  but  was  succeeded,  in  1852,  by  Joshua  Hum 
phrey,  who  remained  in  charge  six  years.  In  January,  1858, 
James  Cook  was  recalled.  Nine  months  later,  Oliver  H.  Perry 
was  recalled. 

The  mismanagement  of  the  Middlesex  Company's  affairs 
during  many  years  was  astonishing.  The  entire  capital  of  the 
Company  was  lost  through  the  mistakes  and  irregularities  of 
Samuel  Lawrence,  William  W.  Stone  and  their  associates.  In 
1858,  the  Company  was  reorganized,  with  new  managers  and  a 
new  subscription  of  stock.  Eive  hundred  shares,  of  the  par 
value  of  one  hundred  dollars  each,  formed  the  capital  with 
which  the  Middlesex  Company  took  their  "  new  departure  "  in 


*  Report  of  Dr.  Ayer,  Peter  Lawson  and  H.  J.  Adams,  the  Committee  of 
the  Proprietors,  1859. 


54  HISTORY    OF    LOWELL. 

the  voyage  of  life.0  This  capital  has  since  been  increased  to 
$750,000. 

Until  now,  all  our  manufacturing  companies  had  sold  their 
products  through  commission-houses  in  Boston  and  New  York, 
whose  compensation  was  determined  by  the  gross  amount  of 
sales — not  by  the  amount  of  profits.  The  wisdom  of  this  pol 
icy  had  been  often  questioned  by  sagacious  stockholders,  with 
out,  however,  leading  to  any  change.  The  Middlesex  Com 
pany  now  adopted  a  different  mode  of  selling  their  products, 
making  their  sales  through  their  Treasurer,  whose  com 
pensation  depended  mainly  upon  the  profits  realized  by  the 
Company.  By  this  arrangement,  the  business  of  selling  was 
kept  directly  under  the  Company's  control,  and  the  interests  of 
the  selling  agent  made  identical  with  those  of  the  Company. 
Since  their  reorganization,  they  have  been  remarkably  success 
ful, — their  per  centage  of  profits  exceeding  those  of  any  other 
company  in  Lowell.  „ 

The  Middlesex  have  three  mills  and  dye-houses,  with  fifty 
sets  of  cards,  consuming  25,000  pounds  of  wool  per  week. 
They  run  16,400  spindles,  240  broad  and  22  narrow  looms. 
They  employ  452  males  and  320  females,  producing  Broad 
cloths,  Doeskins,  Cassimeres  and  Shawls. 

The  Suffolk  Manufacturing  Company  was  incorporated  in 
1831,  with  $600,000  capital.  Robert  Means  was  their  Agent 
until  1842,  when  John  Wright  succeeded  him.  They  have 
two  mills. 

An  ill-advised  experiment  in  the  manufacture  of  cassimeres 
was  made  by  the  Suffolk,  during  the  War,  but  it  aborted,  leav 
ing  them  depleted  of  their  capital.  When  in  full  operation, 
they  run  21,432  spindles,  and  815  looms, — employ  410  females 
and  205  males, — consume  30,000  pounds  of  cotton  per  week, 

*Dr.  Ayer  and  Gen.  Butler  bought  largely  of  this  stock,  and  their  invest 
ments  yielded  them  splendid  returns.  Those  who  think  Gen.  Butlerls  for 
tune  was  derived  solely  from  the  plunder  of  Louisiana  and  Virginia,  should  look 
into  the  Company's  books,  and  learn  their  mistake. 


HISTORY    OF    LOWELL.  55 

— and  make  125, 000  yards,  per  week,  of  Corset  Jeans,  Sheetings, 
and  Shirtings,  Nos.  14  to  22. 

The  Proprietors  of  the  Tremont  Mills  were  incorporated  in 
1831.  Their  capital  is  $600,000,  and  they  have  two  mills. 
Their  Agents  have  been,  from  1831  to  1834,  Israel  Whitney; 
from  1834  to  1837,  John  Aiken  ;  from  1837  to.  1859,  Charles 
L.  Tilden;  and  since  1859,  Charles  F.  Battles. 

The  experiment  in  cassimeres  which  was  made  by  the  Suf 
folk,  was  repeated  by  the  Tremont,  both  having  the  same 
Treasurer — Henry  V.  Ward.  The  same  disasters  followed, 
and  here  too  cassimeres  were  discarded.  The  productive  ca 
pacity  of  the  Tremont  is  about  equal  to  that  of  the  Suffolk, — 
viz  :  20,960  spindles,  and  764  looms,  run  by  500  females  and 
120  males.  The  weekly  consumption  of  cotton,  when  in  full 
operation,  is  37,000  pounds,  and  the  weekly  return  of  cloth 
135,000  yards  of  Sheetings  and  Shirtings,  Nos.  14  to  20,  and 
Flannels. 

The  Lawrence  Manufacturing  Company  were  incorporated  in 
1831.  Their  capital  is  $1,500,000  ;  and  they  have  five  mills 
and  dye-houses.  William  Austin  was  their  Agent  till  1837, 
when  John  Aikcn  was  transferred  from  the  Tremont  Mills.  In 
1849,  Mr.  Aiken  was  succeeded  by  William  S.  Southworth, 
who  remained  till  1865,  when  William  F.  Salmon  succeeded  him. 

The  Lawrence  had  the  same  Treasurer  during  the  War  as 
the  Suffolk  and  Tremont ;  but  instead  of  experimenting  in  cas 
simeres,  the  Lawrence  engaged  in  hosiery,  incurring,  directly 
and  indirectly,  a  loss  of  half  a  million  dollars.  The  Lawrence 
have  60,432  spindles,  1,564  looms,  and  163  knitting  machines, 
requiring  the  labor  of  1,350  females  and  350  males.  Their 
weekly  consumption  of  cotton,  when  all  their  machinery  is  run 
ning,  is  110,000  pounds,  and  2,000  of  wool.  Their  fabrics 
are  Shirtings,  Sheetings,  Printing  Cloth,  Cotton  and  Merino 
Hosiery. 

In  1831,  the  Suffolk  and  Western  Canals  were  cut,  to  supply 
the  Suffolk,  Tremont  and  Lawrence  with  water-power. 


56  HISTORY    OP    LOWELL. 

The  Lowell  Bleachery  was  incorporated  in  1832,  with  a  cap 
ital  of  $50,000,  since  increased  to  $300,000.  Jonathan  Derby 
was  in  charge  the  first  year.  From  1833  to  1835,  Joseph 
Hoyt  was  in  charge.  Then  succeeded  Charles  T.  Appleton, 
who  retained  the  Agency  till  1846,  when  Charles  A.  Babcock 
succeeded  him.  The  present  Agent,  Frank  P.  Appleton,  suc 
ceeded  Mr.  Babcock,  in  1853. 

The  Bleachery  establishment  consists  of  four  mills  and  dye- 
houses,  employing  360  males  and  40  females.  They  dye  15,- 
000,000  yards,  and  bleach  8,000,000  yards,  of  cloth  per  annum. 

The  Boott  Cotton  Mills  were  incorporated  in  1835,  with  a 
capital  of  $1,200,000,  and  commenced  operations  in  1836. 
Benjamin  F.  French  had  charge  of  these  mills  till  1845,  when 
Linus  Child  succeeded  him.  In  1862,  William  A.  Burke  was 
transferred  from  the  Machine  Shop  to  succeed  Mr.  Child. 
When  Mr.  Burke  came,  the  stock  of  the  Boott  had  fallen  forty 
per  cent,  below  par,  and  was  paying  no  dividends.  Since  then 
an  extensive  policy  of  reconstruction  has  been  pursued ;  the 
stock  has  risen  to  par,  and  has  paid  good  dividends. 

The  Boott  have  five  mills,  with  71,324  spindles  and  1,878 
looms,  employing  1,020  females  and  290  males.  Their  weekly 
consumption  of  cotton  is  100,000  pounds,  and  their  weekly 
return  of  cloth  350,000  yards  of  No.  14  Drillings,  Sheetings, 
Shirtings  and  Printing  Cloth,  No.  30  to  No.  40. 

In  1832,  W.  B.  Park,  of  Boston,  purchased  the  flannel  mill 
near  Wamesit  Falls,  in  Belvidere,  of  John  Nesmith,  who,  as 
we  have  previously  seen,  had  purchased  these  premises  of  Har 
rison  Gr.  Howe.  Mr.  Park  divided  most  of  the  lands  adjoining 
into  convenient  lots  and  sold  them  at  an  enhanced  price  tc  a  num 
ber  of  individual  purchasers.  Without  observing  too  rigid  an 
adherence  to  the  order  of  chronology,  we  will  here  give  the 
remaining  history  of  these  mills.  In  1834,  Eliphalet  Barber, 
Walter  Farnsworth,  and  George  Hill,  of  Boston,  purchased 
these  mills  of  Mr.  Park,  and  carried  on  the  business  until  1851, 
as  the  Belvidere  Flannel  Manufacturing  Company.  They  also 


HISTORY    OF    LOWELL.  57 

extended  their  business  by  the  purchase  of  the  stone  mill, 
which  had  before  been  owned  by  the  Whitney  Mills.  In 
1851,  Charles  Stott  and  Walter  Farnsworth  bought  out  the 
company's  interest,  and  carried  on  these  mills  on  their  own  ac 
count  ;  but  their  business  was  soon  impeded  by  fire.  The  stone 
mill  was  burned  in  1851,  and  the  old  flannel  mill  in  the  year 
following.  In  1853,  under  the  old  charter  granted  to  W.  B. 
Park  in  1834,  the  Belvidere  Woollen  Manufacturing  Company 
was  reorganized, — Messrs.  Stott  and  Farnsworth  conveying  one- 
third  of  their  interest  to  the  new  company.  The  large  brick 
mill,  at  Wamesit  Falls,  was  built  the  same  year.  Another 
large  mill  at  Whipple's  Mills  was  built  in  1862.  The  capital 
of  this  company — originally  only  $50,000 — is  now  $200,000. 
Charles  Stott  has  been  Agent  since  1835. 

It  was  in  1836  that  Perez  0,  Richmond,  who  had  for  two 
years  previously  been  engaged  in  manufacturing  batting,  near 
Wamesit  Falls,  established  himself  at  Massic  Falls,  where  he 
experienced  distinguished  success  in  that  business.  When  he 
began  manufacturing  operations  in  Lowell  in  1834,  he  borrowed 
six  hundred  dollars  from  a  friend,  with  which  he  bought  and 
started  a  few  carding  machines.  When  he  died  in  1854,  he 
left  an  estate  worth  over  one  hundred  and  twenty-five  thousand 
dollars,  above  all  his  liabilities. 

The  Massachusetts  Cotton  Mills — the  youngest  of  the  great 
corporations  now  existing  in  Lowell — were  incorporated  in 
1839,  with  a  capital  of  $1,200,000,  which  was  afterward  in 
creased  by  the  absorption  of  the  Prescott  Company  to  $1,800,- 
000.  The  Agents  of  this  Company  have  been,  from  1839  to 
1849,  Homer  Bartlett;  from  1849  to  1856,  Joseph  White; 
and  since  1856,  Frank  F.  Battles.  The  Superintendents  of 
the  Prescott  Mills,  (a  part  of  the  same  Company's  establish^ 
rnent,)  have  been,  from  1845  to  1849,  Homer  Bartlett;  from 
1849  to  1856,  Frank  F.  Battles;  and  since  1856,  William 
Brown, 


58  HISTORY    OF    LOWELL. 

The  Massachusetts  have  six  mills,  with  67,872  spindles  and 
1,887  looms,  employing  1,300  females  and  400  males.  They 
consume  180,000  pounds  of  cotton,  and  make  540,000  yards 
of  cloth,  per  week  ;  their  fabrics  being  Sheetings,  Shirtings 
and  Drillings,  No.  12  to  No.  22. 

In  1839,  John  Nesinith  and  others  were  incorporated  as  the 
"Whitney  Mills,  and  for  several  years  they  manufactured  blank 
ets  in  the  stone  mill  near  Wamesit  Falls.  But  the  business 
proved  a  failure,  and  they  sold  their  machinery  to  Joseph  W. 
Mansur  and  John  D.  Sturtevant.  The  blanket  manufacture 
finally  found  a  grave  in  the  Tariff  of  1846.  That  Tariff,  the 
result  of  the  financial  charlatanry  of  Kobert  J.  Walker,  Presi 
dent  Folk's  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  raised  the  duty  on  all 
imported  wools  to  thirty  per  cent.,  while  it  reduced  the  duty 
on  imported  flannels  and  blankets  to  twenty-five  and  twenty  per 
cent. 

It  was  in  1839  that  Charles  P.  Talbot  &  Co.  commenced  the 
business  of  manufacturing  dye-stuffs  and  chemicals  in  Lowell 
and  Billerica.  This  business,  small  in  its  beginning,  has 
gradually  swelled  to  the  amount  of  $500,000  per  annum.  A 
flannel  mill  has  also  been  started  by  the  Messrs.  Talbot,  at 
Billerica,  with  eight  sets  of  cards. 

In  1845, — the  year  of  the  second  reorganization  of  the 
Proprietors  of  the  Locks  and  Canals, — the  Lowell  Machine 
Shop  was  incorporated,  with  a  capital  of  $600,000.  William 
A.  Burke,  who  had  previously  been  Agent  of  the  Manchester 
(N.  H.)  Machine  Shop,  was  the  first  Agent,  and  was  suc 
ceeded  in  1862  by  Mertoun  C.  Bryant.  Mr.  Bryant  dying 
soon  afterward,  Andrew  Moody  succeeded  him. 

The  War,  which  brought  death  and  ruin  to  so  many  others, 
was  improved  by  this  company  to  the  utmost  advantage ;  and 
since  the  War,  they  have  realized  a  hundred  thousand  dollars 
in  a  single  year. 

The  establishment  of  this  company  consists  of  four  shops,  a 
smithy  and  foundry,  employing  800  men ; — 3,000  tons  of  cast 


HISTORY    OF    LOWELL.  59 

iron,  400  tons  of  wrought  iron  and  35  tons  of  steel  are  con 
sumed  annually,  in  the  manufacture  of  Cotton  and  Paper  Ma 
chinery,  Locomotives,  Water- Wheels,  Machinists'  Tools,  and 
Mill-work. 

A  machine  for  bending  ship  timber  is  now  in  process  of  con 
struction  here,  the  weight  of  which  will  exceed  200  tons. 

While  the  Machine  Shop  was  getting  under  way  as  an  inde 
pendent  corporation,  the  Prescott  Manufacturing  Company,  in 
corporated  in  1844,  with  a  capital  of  $800,000,  was  consoli 
dated  with  the  Massachusetts ;  the  change  being  made  with  a 
view  to  economy. 

Having  now  traced  in  outline  the  origin  and  progress  of  all 
the  great  corporations  of  Lowell,  we  may  here  insert  a  statis 
tical  summary  of  the  most  salient  facts  touching  their  produc 
tive  capacity. 

Capital   stock  of  the  corporations , $13,650,000 

Number  of  mills 47,  and  dye-houses,  etc. 

Number  of  spindles 429,474 

Number  of  looms ' 12,117 

Female  operatives 8,890  \ 

Male  operatives 4,672 

Yards  of  cotton  cloth  produced  per  week 2,248,000 

Pounds  of  cotton  consumed  per  week 646,000 

Yards  dyed  and  printed  per  annum 45,002,000 

Tons  anthracite  coal  consumed  per  annum 35,100 

Bushels  charcoal  consumed  per  annum 20,000 

Gallons  oil  consumed  per  annum 97,650 

Pounds  starch  consumed  per  annum 2,190,000 

Water-power nearly  10,000  horse-powers. 

Steam-power 32  engines — 4,375  horse-powers. 

Wages  of  females,  clear  of  board,  per  week $3 . 50  to  $3 . 75 

Wages  of  males,  clear  of  board,  per  day $1.00  to  $2.00 

Medium  produce  of  a  loom,  No.  14  yarn,  yards  per  day 45 

Medium  produce  of  a  loom,  No.  30  yarn,  yards  per  day 30 

Average  per  spindle  per  day 1£ 

In  1829,  one  mill  was  burned  down,  and,  in  1853,  another. 
Both  these  mills  belonged  to  the  Merrimack  Company ;  and 
although  fires  have  been  frequent,  no  other  mills  of  the  great 
corporations  have  been  lost  by  that  devouring  element.  This 


60  HISTORY    OF    LOWELL. 

comparative  exemption  from  the  ravages  of  fire  has  been 
secured  by  the  most  efficient  system  of  watching,  which  has 
been  practiced  here  from  the  first.  The  corporations  also  have 
an  elaborate  system  of  "  sprinklers,"  which  enables  them,  in 
an  instant,  to  wet  down  the  whole  or  any  part  of  a  room,  or  of 
all  their  rooms,  so  that  fires  are  arrested  at  once.  This  admir 
able  machinery  of  sprinklers,  however,  was  not  introduced  un 
til  after  the  establishment  of  the  reservoir  on  Lynde's  Hill, 
in  1850.  A  system  of  mutual  insurance  against  fire  was  also 
adopted  by  the  corporations  about  the  same  time  ;  but  so  per 
fect  are  their  facilities  for  preventing  and  suppressing  fires,  the 
cost  of  their  insurance  has  been  less  than  a  tenth  of  one  per 
cent,  on  the  value  of  the  property  insured. 

In  connection  with  those  corporations  that  stopped  their  mills 
more  or  less  during  the  War,  the  question  may  be  asked, — 
How  would  the  great  men  who  founded  the  factory  system  of 
Lowell  regard  this  ruthless  dismissal  of  hundreds  and  thou 
sands  of  operatives,  dependent  on  their  day's  wages  for  their 
day's  bread  ?  The  founders  of  Lowell  were  far  in  advance  of 
their  times.  How  mindful  they  were  of  the  well-being  of  their 
operatives !  With  what  thoughtful  care  did  they  establish,  at 
their  own  cost,  their  admirable  system  of  boarding-houses, 
with  the  most  efficient  moral  police,  and  with  every  provision 
for  religious  worship  !  To  them  the  condition  of  their  opera 
tives  was  a  matter  of  the  highest  interest.0  Not  so  to  their 
successors.  The  impartial  historian  cannot  ignore  the  fact, 
painful  as  it  is,  that  nine  of  the  great  corporations  of  Lowell, 
under  a  mistaken  belief  that  they  could  not  run  their  mills  to 
a  profit  during  the  War,  unanimously,  in  cold  blood,  dismissed 
ten  thousand  operatives,  penniless,  into  the  streets ! 

This  crime,  this  worse  than  crime,  this  blunder,  entailed  its 
own  punishment, — as  all  crimes  do  by  the  immutable  law  of 
God.  When  these  companies  resumed  operations,  their  former 
skilled  operatives  were  dispersed,  and  could  no  more  be  recalled 

*  Appleton's  Origin  of  Lowell,  p.  15. 


HISTORY    OF    LOWELL.  61 

than  the  Ten  Lost  Tribes  of  Israel.  Their  places  were  poorly 
filled  by  the  less  skilled  operatives  whom  the  companies  now 
had  to  employ.  So  serious  was  this  blunder,  that  the  smallest 
of  the  companies  would  have  done  wisely,  had  they  sacrificed 
a  hundred  thousand  dollars,  rather  than  thus  lose  their  accus 
tomed  help. 

During  the  last  forty  years,  a  great  variety  of  mechanical  tal 
ent  has  been  developed  by  th^  corporations  of  Lowell.  But 
strange  to  say,  no  method  has  been  devised  to  retain  in  the  service 
of  the  companies  the  talent  thus  developed,  by  opening  to  its  pos 
sessors  a  wider  field  of  action.  Accordingly,  when  an  overseer, 
or  employe  of  any  grade,  has  so  mastered  his  business  as  to  be 
fitted  to  fill  the  higher  positions, — so  often  filled  by  men  wholly 
ignorant  of  manufacturing  processes, — his  almost  only  hope  of 
advancement  lies  in  quitting  the  companies'  employ. 

Among  the  men  heretofore  employed  in  the  mills,  who  found 
no  adequate  sphere  on  the  corporations,  and  who  have  risen  to> 
higher  theatres  of  action  outside  of  the  Lowell  mills,  the  first 
names  that  occur  are  Phineas  Adams,  Sylvamis  Adams,  W.. 
L.  Ainsworth,  D.  M.  Ayer,  Jefferson  Bancroft,  Joseph  Battles,, 
E.  B.  Bigelow,  Ezekiel  Blake,  Cornelius  Blanchard,  Francis 
A.  Calvert,  Josiah  G.  Coburn,  John  L.  Cheney,  Joshua  Con 
verse,  D.  D.  Crombie,  A.  G-.  Curnnock,  E.  S.  Davis,  Orlando 
Davis,  George  Draper,  Oliver  Ellis,  Franklin  Forbes,  William 
Hunter,  Daniel  Hussey,  L.  W.  Jaquith,  G.  H.  Jones,  Peter 
Lawson,  Pliny  Lawton,  George  Lund,  Foster  Nowell,  George 
K.  Paul,  Hannibal  Powers,  T.  L.  Eandlett,  E.  A.  Straw,  Eoyal 
Southwick,  Charles  P.  Talbot,  Thomas  Talbot,  Eufus  Whittier, 
Claudius  Wilson,  Hubbard  Willson,  Walter  Wright,  S.  J.  Weth- 
erell,  Lothrop  Wetherell,  and  John  Yeaton  ;  and  many  others 
might  readily  be  recalled. 

Synchroniously  with  the  building  of  the  factories  and  board 
ing-houses  of  the  corporations,  a  large  number  of  small  private 
establishments  were  started  in  various  parts  of  Lowell,  by  ma 
chinists,  blacksmiths,  house-builders,  carpenters,  dyers,  carriage 
6 


62  HISTORY    OF    LOWELL. 

and  harness  makers,  artificers  of  tools,  and  all  sorts  of  workers  in 
wood  and  in  iron, — in  short,  by  all  classes  of  mechanics  and 
artisans  who  could  in  any  way  contribute  to  the  building  and 
beautifying  of  an  inland  town.  Many  of  these  congregated 
near  Wamesit  Falls,  in  Belvidere.  There  too  were  subsequently 
started  the  manufacturing  establishments  of  James  0.  Patter 
son,  John  D.  Sturtevant,  Aaron  Cowley,  Eoger  Lang,  James 
Siner,  Samuel  C.  Shapleigh,  Moses  A.  Johnson,  and  others. 
Most  of  these  establishments  have  long  since  disappeared  from 
Belvidere — the  manufacturers  finding  a  more  desirable  theatre 
at  Whipple's  Mills,  and  the  miscellaneous  classes  of  mechanics 
establishing  themselves  at  Mechanics'  Mills  in  the  westerly 
part  of  Lowell.  This  region  of  Mechanics'  Mills, — built  up 
largely  by  "William  Livingston  and  Sidney  Spaulding, — has 
been  the  focus  of  most  of  the  lumber  business  done  in  JLowell 
since  1846.  No  water-power  is  used  there;  but  planing  mills, 
saw-mills,  and  other  works  are  run  by  steam. 

It  was  long  the  policy  of  the  corporations  to  discourage  any 
manufacturing  enterprize  that  was  not  incorporated.  This 
policy  was  based  partly  on  a  love  of  methodicity  and  an  un 
reasoning  attachment  to  incorporated  forms  of  industry,  and 
partly  on  the  selfish  desire  to  have  the  whole  body  of  the  peo 
ple  of  Lowell  subject  to  their  sway.  But  notwithstanding  this 
discouragement,  many  independent  hives  of  manufacturing  in 
dustry  have  been  started  from  time  to  time  ;  and  some  of  them 
have  realised  remarkable  success. 

In  1846,  Oliver  M.  Whipple  gathered,  in  the  southerly  part 
of  Lowell,  that  group  of  industrial  establishments  ever  since 
called  Whipple's  Mills,  which  are  supplied  by  the  water-power 
of  Concord  River,  estimated  at  five  hundred  horse-powers.  In 
his  long  and  active  career,  Mr.  Whipple  has  rendered  many 
valuable  services  to  the  public.  Some  of  these  have  already 
bee.n  forgotten,  and  the  memory  of  most  of  the  rest  will  prob 
ably  perish  with  the  generation  now  in  being.  But  whatever 
else  may  be  forgotten,  this  will  not  be  forgotten, — that  when 


OLIVER    M.    WUIPPLK. 


HISTORY    OF    LOWELL.  63 

all  the  water-power  of  the  Merrimaek  had  been  monopolized 
by  great  corporations,  he  laid  hold  on  the  water-power  of  the 
Concord,  and  held  it,  with  a  firm  hand,  for  the  use,  chiefly,  of 
independent  manufacturers.  For  nearly  twenty  years,  he  con 
tinued  to  let  land,  buildings  and  water-power,  on  the  most  lib 
eral  terms,  to  every  man  of  merit  that  would  embark  in  any 
manufacturing  adventure.  As  the  region  of  Whipple's  Mills 
becomes  more  thickly  peopled,  the  magnitude  of  the  service 
thus  rendered  by  Mr.  Whipple  will  more  and  more  appear ; 
and  Lowell,  when  she  calls  the  roll  of  her  benefactors,  can 
never  omit  his  name. 

Among  the  first  establishments  at  Whipple's  Mills  were 
Smith  &  Meadowcroft's  bolt  factory,  Thomas  Barr's  print 
shop,  Aaron  Cowley's  carpet  factory,  Sylvester  Crosby's  bob 
bin  shop,  and'C.  H.  Crowther's  dye  house.  Afterward  came 
Roger  Lang,  James  Siner,  and  G-eorge  Nay  lor,  carpet  manufac 
turers  ;  Carroll  &  Thompson,  dyers  ;  Charles  R.  Littler,  calico 
printer ;  the  Lowell  Wire  Fence  Company ;  John  Cowley,  woollen 
manufacturer ;  John  Sugden,  Richard  Rhodes,  and  James  Dug- 
dale,  worsted  spinners,  and  a  multitude  more. 

During  the  late  War,  portions  of  the  water-power  of  the 
Concord,  at  Whipple's  Mills,  were  purchased  and  applied  by 
the  Bclvidere  AVoollen  Manufacturing  Company,  Luther  W. 
Faulkner  &  Son,  Charles  A.  Stott,  and  others.  The  residuum  of 
this  water-power  passed,  for  a  time,  into  the  hands  of  Ephraim 
B.  Patch,  who  sold  it,  in  1865,  to  the  WTamesit  Power  Com 
pany,  which  was  incorporated  the  same  year,  with  a  capital  of 
$150,000.  By  this  company,  water-power  is  still  leased  to 
private  manufacturers,  as  in  former  years  by  Mr.  Whipple. 

During  the  two  lustrums  between  1845  and  1855,  the  num 
ber  of  spindles  run  by  the  great  corporations  of  Lowell,  was 
exactly  doubled.  Only  200,000  spindles  were  in  operation  in 
1 845.  The  spaces  between  the  mills  were  then  built  up,  and 
other  extensions  made,  and,  in  1855,  the  number  of  spindles 
running  was  400,000,  with  12,000  looms. 


64  HISTORY    OF    LOWELL. 

In  1860,  Moses  A.  Johnson  and  others  established  a  mill  at 
"VVamesit  Falls,  for  the  manufacture  of  cattle's  hair  into  vari 
ous  forms  of  felted  goods.  The  use  for  which  this  fabric  was 
originally  designed,  was  the  sheathing  of  the  copper  of  ships  ; 
"but  it  has  since  been  applied  extensively  to  a  great  variety  of 
uses — such  as  underlaying  carpets,  roofing,  packing,  etc.  In 

1866,  this  business  was   removed  to  Pawtucket  Falls.      In 

1867,  the  Lowell  Felting  Mills  were  incorporated,  with  a  cap 
ital  of  $100,000,  and  with  Moses  A.  Johnson  as  Agent. 

Outside  of  the  great  corporations,  there  is  no  establish 
ment  in  Lowell,  involving  near  so  much  capital,  as  the 
Laboratory  of  Dr.  James  C.  Ayer  &  Co.,  established  in 
1843,  and  now  employing  one  hundred  males  and  fifty  fe 
males.  The  advertising  disbursements  of  this  firm  exceed 
$140,000  annually.  Five  and  a  half  million  copies  of  Ayer's 
Almanac,  printed  by  steam  at  their  establishment,  are  annu 
ally  distributed,  gratis,  in  English,  French,  Dutch,  German, 
Norwegian,  Spanish,  Portuguese,  and  Chinese.  About  325,- 
000  pounds  of  drugs,  of  the  value  of  $850,000, — 220,000 
gallons  of  spirit,  of  the  value  of  $550,000,  and  460,000, 
pounds  of  sugar,  costing  about  $98,000, — are  annually  ex 
pended  here.  About  $1,500,000  bottles,  185,000  pill  boxes, 
425,000  square  feet  of  packing  boxes,  and  112,000  square  feet 
of  card  board,  are  also  used.  The  paper  and  printing  ink 
consumed  annually  amount  in  value  to  $75,000.  The  pro 
ducts  of  this  mammoth  laboratory  are  sent  to  every  part  of 
the  globe,  at  an  expense  of  $48,000  a  year  for  freight,  and 
$2,800  for  postage, — 150  letters  on  an  average  being  sent  out 
every  day. 

The  principal  manufacturing  and  mechanical  establishments 
in  Lowell,  not  already  mentioned,  are  as  follows  ; 

American  Bolt  Company,  Bolts. 

Thomas  Atherton  &  Co.,  Machinists. 

Sager  Ash  worth,  Files. 

Milton  Aldrich,  Hand  Screws. 

A.  H.  &  J.  H.  Abbott,  Carriages, 


HISTORY    OF    LOWELL.  65 

J.  W.  Bennett  &  Co.,  Metallic  Hoofing. 
Artemas  L.  Brooks,  Saw  Mill  and  Planing  Mill. 
D.  C.  Brown,  Reeds,  Loom  Harnesses,  etc. 
S.  L.  Buckman,  Harnesses. 
James  A.  Brabrook,  Harnesses. 
T.  F.  Burgess  &  Co.,  Iron  Machinery. 
H.  R.  Barker,  Gas  and  Steam  Pipes,  etc. 
Ephraim  Brown,  Money  Drawers,  etc. 
Blodgett,  Reed  &  Pease,  Stone  Cutters,  etc. 
S.  R.  Brackett,  Worsted  Yarns. 
George  L.  Cady,  Belt  Hooks,  etc. 
George  Crosby,  Extension  Tables,  etc. 
Coburn,  Wing  &  Co.,  Shuttles. 
John  H,  Coburn,  Shuttles. 
Coburn  &  Park,  Stone  Quarries. 
Cutter  &  Walker,  Shoulder  Braces. 
Samuel  Convers,  Carriages. 
Cole  &  Nichols,  Foundry. 
Elbridge  G.  Cook,  Tannery. 
Carter  &  Roland,  Wool  Washers. 
Charles  H.  Crowther,  Dyeing. 
Alfred  H.  Chase,  Fancy  Cloths. 
Weafe  Clifford,  Dyeing. 
Asahel  Davis,  Dovetailing  Machines,  etc. 
Luke  C.  Dodge,  Babbeting  Metal,  etc. 
Davis  &  Melindy,  Planing  Mill. 
Alfred  Drake,  Card  Combs. 
James  Dugdale,  Woollen  Yarns. 
Dobbins  &  Crawford,  Steam  Boilers. 
Eagle  Braid  Mills,  Braid. 
Willis  G.  Eaton,  Currier, 
N.  B.  Favor  &  Son,  Doors,  Sashes  and  Blinds. 
William  Fiske,  Coverlets. 
L.  W.  Faulkner  &  Son,  Woollens. 
George  W.  Field,  Machinist. 
Fuller  &  Read,  Wood  Turners. 
Josiah  Gates  &  Sons,  Hose,  Belts,  etc. 
Joseph  Green,  Mats  and  Rugs. 
Hart  &  Colson,  Furniture. 
Hill  Manufacturing  Company,  Suspenders. 
Howe  &  Goodhue,  Card  Clothing. 
John  Holt,  Press-dyed  Flannels. 
60 


66  HISTORY   OF    LOWELL. 

Andrew  J.  Hiscox  &  Co.,  Files. 

Howes  &  Burnham,  Lumber. 

George  W.  Harris,  Loom  Harnesses,  etc. 

Henry  A.  Hildreth,  Wire  Worker. 

B.  S.  Hale  &  Son,  Insulated  Wire. 

H.  B.  &  G.  F.  Hill,  Carriages. 

Eliphalet  Hills,  Wood  Turner. 

Hubbard  &  Blake,  latent  Leather. 

J.  S.  Jaques  &  Co.,  Shuttles. 

Joel  Jenkins,  Carriages. 

Keyes  and  Sugden,  Worsted  Yarns, 

Bichard  Kitson,  Cotton  Machinery. 

D.  S.  Kimball,  Furniture. 

J.  A.  Knowles,  Jr.,  Scales. 

Wm.  Kelley,  Doors,  Sashes  and  Blinds. 

Benjamin  Lawrence,  Machinist. 

Lowell  Arms  Company,  Fire  Arms. 

Lowell  Card  Company,  Card  Clothing. 

Daniel  Lovejoy,  Machine  Knives. 

David  Lane,  Woollen  Machinery. 

Livingston,  Carter  &  Co.,  Flannels,  etc. 

William  E.  Livingston,  Grist  Mill,  etc. 

John  McDonald,  Carpets. 

John  Mather,  Carpets. 

William  &  Luke  McFarlin,  Ice. 

J.  V.  Meigs,  Patent  Guns. 

Norcross  &  Saunders,  Lumber. 

George  Naylor,  Carpets. 

Parsons  &  Gibby,  Copperstamps,  etc. 

F.  S.  Perkins,  Iron  Machinery. 

Parker  &  Cheney,  Bobbins. 

M.  C.  Pratt,  Doors,  Sashes  and  Blinds. 

Isaac  Place,  Doors,  Sashes  and  Blinds. 

J.  G.  Peabody,  Doors,  Sashes  and  Blinds. 

John  Pettengill,  Cisterns,  etc. 

J.  M.  Peabody,  Set  Screws. 

John  N.  Pierce,  Machinist. 

George  Eipley  &  Co.,  Batting. 

Eobinson  &  Nourbourn,  Machinists. 

Eunals,  Clough  &  Co.,  Granite  Workers. 

Charles  B.  Richmond,  Paper. 

Joseph  Eobinson  &  Co.,  Acids  and  Charcoal. 


HISTORY    OF    LOWELL.  67 


Amos  Sanborn  &  Co.,  Silver  Ware. 
Samuel  Smith,  Set  Screws. 
Charles  A.  Stott,  Flannels. 

A.  C.  Sawyer,  Harnesses,  etc. 
Hamilton  Sawyer,  Machinist. 

Solon  Stevens,  Eeeds,  Loom  Harnesses,  etc. 
Styles,  Rogers  &  Co.,  Grist  Mill. 

B.  F.  &  J.  Stevens,  Machinists. 
Taylor  Chemical  Company,  Chemicals. 
Upton  &  Blake,  Shoulder  Braces. 

U.  S.  Bunting  Co.,  Bunting.      D.  W.  C.  Farrington,  Agent. 

William  Walker  &  Co..  Woollens. 

Woods,  Sherwood  &  Co.,  Wireworkers. 

H.  &  A.  Whitney,  Lumber. 

S.  H.  Wright,  Machinist. 

Edward  F.  Watson,  Bobbins. 

Phineas  Whiting  &  Co.,  Belts. 

Charles  H.  Western,  Patterns,  etc.  - 

H.  H.  Wilder  &  Co.,  Brass  Foundry. 

S.  N.  Wood,  Grist  Mill. 

White  &  Plaisted,  Saw  Mill. 

White  &  Chase,  Flocks. 

There  are  also  various  manufacturing  establishments  in  the 
circumjacent  towns,  which  can  hardly  be  ignored  in  connection 
with  the  manufacturing  history  of  Lowell.  Among  these  are 
the  following : 

BILLEEICA. 

C.  P.  Talbot  &  Co.,  Flannels,  Dye  Stuffs  and  Chemicals. 
J.  R.  Faulkner  &  Co.,  Flannels. 

Hill  &  Proctor,  Machinery. 
Robert  Prince  &  Co.,  Soap. 
Thomas  Patten,  Furniture. 

CHELMSFORD. 

Eagle  Mills,  Woollens.     Isaac  Farrington,  Treasurer. 
Christopher  Roby  &  Co.,  Swords,  Edge  Tools,  etc. 
Baldwin  Company,  Worsted.     Peter  Anderson,  Agent. 
Silver  &  Gay,  Woollen  Machinery,  Tools,  etc. 
Chelmsford  Foundry.     W.  H.  B.  Wightman,  Treasurer. 
George  T.  Sheldon,  Hosiery. 


68  HISTORY    OF    LOWELL. 

Merrimack  Hosiery  Company.     G-.  T.  Sheldon,  Treasurer. 
Warren  C.  Hamblet,  Grist  Mill. 

DBACUT. 

Merrimack  Mills,  Woollens.     Edward  Barrows,  Agent. 
George  Kipley  &  Co.,  Paper. 

TEWKSBURY. 

Fosters  &  Co.,  Furniture. 
J.  F.  Huntington,  Peat. 

TYNGSBOROUGH. 

Nathaniel  Brinley,  Lumber  and  Boxes. 
WESTFORD. 

Abbot  Worsted  Co.,  Worsteds.     J.  W.  Abbot,  Treasurer. 
Charles  G.  Sargent,  Machinery. 

The  water-power  of  the  Merrimack  has  been  increased  by 
the  superaddition  of  reservoirs  near  its  sources,  which  cover  a 
hundred  and  fifteen  square  miles.  It  now  amounts  to  the 
enormous  volume  of  four  thousand  cubic  feet  per  second  for  all 
the  hours  during  which  the  mills  are  run,  or  nearly  ten  thou 
sand  horse-powers ;  and  the  whole  of  this  has  been  applied. 
The  Merrimack  alone  use  the  whole  fall  of  thirty-three  feet. 
To  the  other  companies,  the  water  is  delivered  from  two  levels. 
The  Hamilton,  Appleton,  Lowell,  Suffolk,  Tremont  and  Ma 
chine  Shop  draw  from  the  upper  level,  under  a  fall  of  some 
what  more  than  thirteen  feet ;  while  tne  Middlesex,  Law 
rence,  Boott  and  Massachusetts  draw  from  the  lower  level,  un 
der  a  fall  of  something  more  than  seventeen  feet. 

Within  less  than  a  mile  below  the  settled  portion  of  the  city, 
are  Hunt's  Falls,  where  the  Merrimack  Biver,  reinforced  by 
the  Concord,  makes  another  descent  of  ten  feet.  No  part 
of  this  water-power  has  yet  been  applied  to  manufacturing 
purposes ;  though  the  utilization  of  the  whole  of  it  is  only  a 
question  of  time.  Here  are  the  means  to  increase  the  produc 
tive  power  of  Lowell  by  more  than  thirty  per  cent.  At  pres- 


HISTORY    OF    LOWELL.  69 

ent,  however,  the  cost  of  the  dam,  canal,  etc.,  which  would  be 
required  in  applying  this  power,  would  probably  exceed  the 
value  of  the  power  that  would  be  obtained. 

Besides  Hunt's  Falls,  the  superaddition  of  steam-power  to 
the  water-power,  and  the  invention  of  contrivances  to  diminish 
the  friction  of  the  machinery  and  enable  it  to  be  run  with 
less  power,  will  lead  to  considerable  further  increase  of  our 
productivity  as  a  manufacturing  city.  Moreover,  the  experi 
ments  of  Bonelli  foreshadow  many  probable  future  improve 
ments  in  manufactures,  from  the  application  of  electricity  to 
various  process,  especially  to  the  weaving.  We  are  very  far 
yet  from  the  point  of  culmination.  Before  the  present  century 
expires,  Lowell  is  destined  to  contain  seventy-five  thousand 
inhabitants.  Nor  will  her  progress  end  even  there.  When 
the  men  of  our  times  are  all  gathered  to  their  fathers,  she  bids 
fair  to  renew  her  .youth,  and  to  march,  with  firm  step,  toward 
the  goal  of  that  ideal  perfection,  which  is  forever  approached, 
but  never  attained. 


CHAPTER  V. 

GENERAL    HISTORY    OF    LOWELL.       1820 1835. 

East  Chelmsford  in  1820 — The  Journal— Local  Militia — Orators  of  Independence- 
Day — James  Dugdale— Central  Bridge — Mechanics'  Association — Lowell  a 
Town — Postmasters — "William  Livingston — Odd  Fellows — Ephraim  K.  Av- 
ery — Sarah  Maria  Cornell — Boston  and  Lowell  Railroad — Judge  Livermore 
— Police  Court — The  Advertiser — Francis  A.  Calvert — Gen.  Jackson — Henry 
Clay — Col.  Crackett—  George  Thompson — Michael  Chevalier — Steamboat  on 
the  Merrimack — Mechanics'  Hall  The  Courier — Local  Scenery. 

In  1820,  the  village  of  East  Chelmsford,  together  with  Bel- 
videre  and  Centralville,  contained  about  two  hundred  and  fifty 
inhabitants.  Whipple's  Pow.der  Mills  were  then  in  operation, 
and  Howe's  Flannel  Mill.  Several  saw-mills  and  grist-mills 
also  contributed  to  the  life  of  the  place.  Kurd's  Mill,  now 
at  Whipple's  Mills,  then  stood  in  the  present  Middlesex  Com- 


70  HISTORY    OF    LOWELL. 

pany's  yard.  Ira  Frye's  Tavern  stood  where  the  American 
House  now  stands,  and  furnished  "provender  for  man  and 
beast."  At  Massic  Falls  stood  a  blacksmith's  shop  ;  and  there 
were  a  few  other  such  establishments  as  country  villages  usu 
ally  afford.  Scattered  about,  were  a  few  substantial  dwelling- 
houses, — of  which  the  Livermore  House  in  Belvidere  was  the 
most  conspicuous — and  about  a  dozen  farm-houses,  cottages, 
etc. 

The  operations  of  the  Merrimack  Company  attracted  a  nu 
merous  and  daily  increasing  population ;  and  the  gables  of  a 
hundred  new  houses  shortly  pierced  the  sky.  In  1822,  a  reg 
ular  line  of  stages  was  established  between  East  Chelmsford 
and  Boston.  Previous  to  this,  business  men,  like  Mr.  Whipple 
and  Mr.  Hurd,  had  often  paid  five  dollars  for  the  conveyance 
of  a  single  letter  from  Boston. 

In  1824,  a  weekly  paper  called  the  Chelmsford  Courier,  was 
established  in  Middlesex  A7illage,  and  became,  at  once,  the 
organ  of  the  rising  community.  It  was  published  by  William 
Baldwin,  and  edited  by  Bernard  Whitman.  In  a  short  time, 
it  passed  into  the  hands  of  E.  W.  Keinhart,  who  changed 
its  name  first  to  Chelmsford  Phoenix,  and  afterward  to  Mer 
rimack  Journal.  He  also  removed  it  to  what  is  now  Lowell. 
In  November,  1825,  John  S.  C.  Knowlton  purchased  the  paper 
of  Mr.  Eeinhart,  and  after  the  incorporation  of  the  town, 
changed  its  name  to  the  Lowell  Journal. 

On  July  4th,  1825,  was  organized  the  Mechanic  Phalanx, 
the  first  Company  of  Militia  in  Lowell.  Four  other  companies 
of  Militia  were  afterward  organized  here  :  the  City  Guards,  in 
1841 ;  the  Watson  Light  Guard,  in  1851 ;  the  Lawrence  Ca 
dets,  in  1855.  The  Phalanx  and  the  Guards  still  live;  but 
the  two  last  companies  passed  away  during  the  War,  giving 
place  to  the  Putnam  Guards  and  the  Sargeant  Light  Guards. 

In  1825,  the  anniversary  of  American  Independence  was 
celebrated  here  with  appropriate  ceremonies.  The  principal 
events  of  the  day  were  an  oration  by  the  Rev.  Bernard  Whit- 


HISTORY    OF    LOWELL.  71 

man,  of  Chelmsford,  the  first  editor  of  the  paper  now  called 
the  Lowell  Journal,  and  a  public  dinner  at  the  Stone  House 
near  Pawtucket  Falls,  then  just  erected  by  Captain  Phineas 
Fletcher,  and  now  the  elegant  private  residence  of  Dr.  James 
C.  Ayer.  The  successors  of  Mr.  Whitman  in  the  line  of 
Fourth-of-July  oratory  have  been  as  follows: — In  1826,  Sam 
uel  B.  Walcott ;  in  1828,  Elisha  Bartlett ;  in  1829,  Dr.  Israel 
Hildreth  ;  in  1830,  Edward  Everett;  in  1831,  John  P.  Eobin- 
son;  in  1832,  Eev.  Thomas  J.  Greenwood;  in  1834,  Thomas 
Hopkinson ;  in  1835,  Rev.  E.  W.  Freeman  and  others;  in 
1836,  Eev.  Dr.  Blanchard;  in  1841,  Eev.  Thomas  F.  Norris 
and  John  C.  Park;  in  1847,  Eev.  John  Moore;  in  1848,  Dr. 
Bartlett,  again;  in  1851,  Eev.  Joseph  H.  Towne;  in  1852, 
Rev.  Matthew  Hale  Smith;  in  1853,  Jonathan  Kimball ;  in 
1855,  Augustus  Woodbury ;  in  1860,  Dr.  Charles  A.  Phelps ; 
in  1861,  George  S.  Boutwell  and  others  ;  in  1865,  Alexander 
H.  Bullock;  in  1867,  Judge  Thomas  Eussell,  and  others. 

Another  event  occurred  about  1825,  of  more  importance 
than  a  Fourth-of-July  oration  —  viz.,  the  arrival  of  James 
Dugdale,  an  ingenious  mechanic  from  Lancashire,  who  be 
came  overseer  of  a  spinning-room  on  the  Merrimack,  where  he 
introduced  the  English  "dead  spindle,"  and  revolutionized  the 
mode  of  spinning  coarse  yarns. 

In  1825,  the  Central  Bridge  Corporation  was  incorporated. 
The  only  mode  of  crossing  Merrimack  Eiver  at  this  point  un 
til  now,  had  been  by  what  was  called  "  Bradley 's  Ferry." 
This  ferry  was  purchased  by  the  Central  Bridge  Company,  for 
one  thousand  dollars.  The  bridge  was  so  far  completed  during 
this  and  the  following  season  that  tolls  for  foot-passers  and 
carriages  were  received  early  in  December,  1826.  The  tolls 
for  foot-passers  were  abolished  in  1843.  The  bridge  itself 
was  rebuilt  in  1844  ;  and  covered  in  1849.  The  original  cost 
of  the  bridge  was  twenty-one  thousand  dollars ;  the  cost  of 
rebuilding  was  nine  thousand ;  and  the  cost  of  covering  four 
thousand.  In  1855,  the  bridge  was  laid  out  by  the  City  Coun- 


72  HISTORY    OF    LOWELL. 

oil  as  a  public  highway, — a  foolish  act,  which  involved  the  city 
in  most  tedious  and  expensive  litigation,0  and  for  which  the 
proprietors  of  the  bridge  recovered  over  $26,000,  as  damages, 
costs,  etc.  The  present  bridge  was  built  in  1862  at  a  cost  of 
nearly  $34,000, — an  outlay  of  money  scarcely  less  reckless  than 
the  seizure  of  the  old  bridge. 

In  1825,  the  Middlesex  Mechanics^  Association  was  incorpo 
rated  to  minister,  by  a  library  of  books,  now  nearly  10,000 
volumes,  by  public  lectures,  by  occasional  fairs,  and  various 
other  means,  to  the  intellectual  needs  of  the  people.  This 
was  only  two  years  subsequent  to  the  founding  of  the  famous 
Mechanics'  Institute  in  London — the  first  of  a  most  useful 
class  of  popular  institutions,  originating  in  the  genius  of  Dr. 
Birkbeck,  and  helped  into  existence  by  Lord  Brougham.  Thus 
Lowell  followed  the  lead  of  London  with  a  more  rapid  step 
than  many  of  the  great  English  towns. 

One  hundred  years  had  now  elapsed  since  the  Wamesit  In 
dian  territory  was  annexed  to  the  town  of  Chelmsford.  The 
time  had  come  for  a  separation ;  and  the  inhabitants  of  East 
Chelmsford  petitioned  to  be  incorporated  as  a  town,  and  that 
that  town  be  called  Merrimack.  Mr.  Boott  suggested  the  name 
of  Derby,  probably  on  account  of  his  family  associations  with 
that  place,  which  was  also  in  the  immediate  vicinity  of  one  of 
the  earliest  English  seats  of  the  Cotton  Manufacture.  The  in 
fluence  of  Mr.  Appleton  finally  caused  the  name  of  Lowell  to  be 
adopted,  out  of  respect  to  his  associate  in  the  Waltham  Com 
pany,  Francis  Cabot  Lowell,  f 

At  the  inauguration  of  the  Lowell  Institute  at  Boston, 
December  31st,  1839,  Edward  Everett  delivered  a  biographical 
discourse  on  John  Lowell,  its  founder,  and  paid  a  well- 
merited  tribute  to  that  founder's  father,  from  whom  was  named 
our  City  of  Spindles.  "  Pyramids  and  mausoleums,"  says  the 

0  See  4  Gray's  Reports,  p.  474. 

t  The  ancient  form  of  this  name  was  Louie,  afterward  Lowle.  It,  perhaps, 
had  the  same  origin  as  Lovell. 


HISTORY    OF    LOWELL.  73 

orator,  "  may  crumble  to  the  earth,  and  brass  and  marble  min 
gle  with  the  dust  they  cover ;  but  the  pure  and  well-deserved 
renown,  which  is  thus  incorporated  with  the  busy  life  of  an 
intelligent  people,  will  be  remembered,  till  the  long  lapse  of 
ages  and  the  vicissitudes  of  fortune  shall  reduce  all  of  America 
to  oblivion  and  decay !  " 

The  municipal  independence  of  Lowell  began  on  the  first 
day  of  March,  1826.  The  population  of  the  new-born  town 
was  about  two  thousand. 

The  first  post-master  was  Jonathan  C.  Morrill,  who  had 
been  appointed  postmaster  at  East  Chelmsford  in  1823.  The 
post-office  was  located  at  the  corner  of  Central  and  William 
Streets.  Captain  William  Wyman  succeeded  Mr.  Morrill  in 
1829,  when  the  post-office  was  removed  to  the  site  of  the 
present  City  Hall.  As  successive  administrations  came  into 
power  at  Washington,  different  post-masters,  of  different  party 
affiliations,  were  appointed.-  Mr.  WTyman  was  succeeded  by 
Eliphalet  Case,  who  removed  the  office  from  the  City  Hall  to 
Middle  Street ;  Mr.  Case  by  Jacob  Bobbins ;  Mr.  Bobbins  by 
S.  S.  Seavy  ;  Mr.  Seavy  by  Alfred  Gilman ;  Mr.  Oilman  by 
T.  P.  Goodhue ;  Mr.  Goodhue  by  F.  A.  Hildreth,  who  removed 
the  office  to  its  present  location,  and  who  was  succeeded  in 
1861  by  John  A.  Goodwin,  the  present  incumbent. 

The  years  1827  and  1828  were  marked  by  great  depression 
in  the  commercial  and  manufacturing  circles  of  the  country. 
Lowell  was  enveloped  in  the  common  cloud.  Mr.  Hurd,  the 
satinet  manfacturer,  became  bankrupt ;  but  the  two  corpora 
tions — the  Merrimack  and  the  Hamilton — kept  on  in  the  even 
tenor  of  their  way.  too  strong  to  be  crushed. 

In  spite  of  all  this,  however,  Lowell  still  advanced,  aug 
menting  her  population  at  the  rate  of  one  thousand  souls,  and 
her  valuation-table  many  thousand  dollars,  every  year.  The 
business  facilities  of  the  place  were  much  increased  in  1828 
by  the  establishment  of  the  Lowell  Bank,  with  a  capital  of 
two  hundred  thousand  dollars. 
7 


74  HISTORY    OF    LOWELL. 

In  1828,  William  Kittredge  brought  one  ton  of  coal  to  Lowell 
in  a  baggage  wagon.  It  was  the  first  coal  ever  seen  here,  and 
was  considered  a  sufficient  supply  for  the  Lowell  market  for  a 
year.  When  the  first  coal  fire  was  started,  in  the  law  office  of 
Samuel  H.  Mann,  more  than  a  hundred  incredulous  persons 
called  to  satisfy  themselves  whether  the  "black  rocks"  would 
actually  burn. 

In  1829,  the  Lowell  Institution  for  Savings  was  incorporated. 
In  the  same  year,  William  Livingston  established  himself  in 
the  coal  and  wood  trade.  For  a  quarter  of  a  century,  Mr. 
Livingston  was  one  of  the  most  active,  most  enterprising  and 
most  public-spirited  men  in  Lowell.  Much  of  the  western 
portion  of  the  city  was  built  up  by  his  instrumentality.  His 
efforts  to  save  Lowell  from  the  oppressive  monopoly  of  her 
railroad  business  by  a  single  company,  mark  him  as  a  man  far 
ahead  of  his  time.  If  the  men  of  business  here  had  sustained 
those  efforts,  as  an  enlightened  sense  of  self-interest  dictated, 
Lowell  would  now  have  two  competing  railroad  routes  to  Bos 
ton  ;  and,  with  cheap  freight  and  a  prompt  transmission  of 
merchandise,  her  progress  would  be  vastly  accelerated.  In 
politics,  Mr.  Livingston  was  a  Democrat  of  the  old  school,  and 
his  principles  brought  him  into  antagonism  with  all  attempts 
to  establish  monopolies,  and  with  all  political  and  incorporated 
"rings."  He  was  always  active  in  politics  as  in  every  other 
sphere  of  human  activity.  In  1836  and  1887,  he  was  a  mem 
ber  of  the  State  Senate.  He  died  in  Florida,  whither  he  had 
gone  to  escape  the  rigors  of  our  northern  clime,  of  consump 
tion,  March  17th,  1855  ;  and  his  place  in  the  business  and 
other  circles  of  Lowell  has  not  yet  been  filled. 

It  is  from  1829  that  Odd  Fellowship  dates  its  existence  in 
Lowell,  Merrimack  Lodge  having  been  instituted  during  that 
year.  This  Lodge  was  the  last  of  this  order  in  the  State,  that 
succumbed  to  the  opposition  which  all  secret  societies  at  one 
time  encountered  in  Massachusetts.  But  in  1836  it  ceased  to 
exist.  It  was  re-organized  in  1839,  and  has  continued  ever 


WILLIAM    LIVINGSTON. 


HISTORY    OF    LOWELL.  75 

since.  Four  other  Lodges  were  afterward  formed,  two  of  which 
still  live — Mechanics',  instituted  in  1842,  and  Oberlin,  insti 
tuted  in  1843.  Two  Encampments  were  also  instituted  here, 
one  of  which — Monomake,  established  in  1843 — has  survived 
to  the  present  time. 

In  July,  1830,  an  acquaintance  was  formed  between  two 
persons  in  Lowell,  whose  names  are  destined  to  be  associated 
forever,  being  cemented  by  the  triple  bond  of  adultery,  abor 
tion  and  murder.  One  of  them  was  Ephraim  K.  Avery,  Pas 
tor  of  the  First  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  now  in  Hurd 
street ;  the  other  was  Sarah  Maria  Cornell,  a  member  of  the 
same  church,  a  fair  but  frail  factory  girl,  employed  on  the 
Hamilton  Corporation.  The  reverend  hypocrite  made  frequent 
calls  at  the  Hamilton  counting-room  for  interviews  with  his 
paramour  ;  °  and  then  it  was — 

"The  golden  hours  on  angel  wings 
Flew  o'er  him  and  his  dearie." 

Little  did  either  of  them  dream  that  the  amorous  dalliances 
in  which  they  then  indulged,  would  culminate,  in  a  few  fleet 
ing  months,  in  one  of  the  most  appalling  tragedies  in  the 
annals  of  New  England.  Others  besides  Avery  enjoyed  the 
favors  of  Miss  Cornell,  who  was  finally  expelled  from  his 
church  for  criminality  and  lying.  In  1832,  Avery  removed  to 
Bristol,  Khode  Island.  Miss  Cornell  followed,  and  took  up 
her  abode  where  she  could  communicate  with  him  by  personal 
interviews,  as  well  as  by  letter. 

On  the  night  of  the  twentieth  of  December,  1832,  loud  cries 
and  groans  were  heard  in  Tiverton,  a  few  miles  from  Bristol  ; 
but  the  bloody  tragedy  then  and  there  enacted,  was  not  discov 
ered  until  the  following  morning.  The  dead  body  of  Miss 
Cornell  was  then  found  suspended  by  the  neck  in  a  stack  yard 
fence,  near  the  spot  where  such  terrible  cries  had  been  heard 

*  This  statement  is  inconsistent  with  the  narrative  of  Avery,  published  with 
the  report  of  his  trial,  by  Richard  Hildreth  and  B.  F.  Hallett;  but  I  had  it  from 
the  late  Ithamar  Vvr.  Beard,  who  was  employed  in  the  Flamilton  counting-room 
at  the  time,  and  who,  unlike  Avery,  had  no  motive  to  lie. 


76  HISTORY    OF    LOWELL. 

on  the  evening  before.  There  was  indisputable  evidence  that' 
prior  to  the  murder  Miss  Cornell  had  undergone  the  manipu 
lations  of  an  abortionist.  By  a  remarkable  coincidence,  the 
day  following  that  on  which  Miss  Cornell  was  thus  put  out  of 
the  way,  had  been  assigned  by  the  Presiding  Elder  for  the 
trial  of  Mr.  Avery,  before  an  ecclesiastical  court,  on  a  charge 
of  adultery  committed  with  Miss  Cornell,  in  the  preceding 
August,  at  a  camp  meeting  at  Thompson,  in  Connecticut. 

Avery  was  soon  afterward  arrested  at  his  hiding-place  at 
Bindge.  in  New  Hampshire,  and  carried  to  Newport,  where, 
on  the  sixth  of  May,  1833,  he  was  arraigned  for  trial.  He 
was  the  first  clergyman  in  the  United  States  that  was  ever 
tried  on  an  indictment  for  murder;  and  his  case  was  one  of  the 
most  remarkable  in  the  annals  of  crime.  His  trial  continued 
for  twenty-eight  consecutive  days.  He  was  defended  by  the 
celebrated  Jeremiah  Mason  and  Eichard  K.  Bandolph,  and  was 
finally  acquitted.  A  Committee  of  the  New  England  Confer 
ence  reported,  and  the  Conference  unblushingly  resolved,  that 
Avery  was  not  only  innocent  of  the  murder,  but  that  he  was 
also  innocent  of  adultery  with  Miss  Cornell.  But  the  time 
had  gone  by  when  the  convictions  of  mankind  could  be  con 
trolled  by  the  decree  of  an  ecclesiastical  conclave.  Avery 
having  had  the  impudence  to  preach  to  his  old  society  in 
Lowell,  shortly  after  the  murder,  a  party  of  gentlemen,  not 
altogether  blind  to  all  moral  distinctions,  prepared  to  bear 
him  from  the  town  on  a  rail.  But  before  their  preparations 
were  completed,  Avery  fled.  His  pursuers  gave  expression  to 
their  resentment  by  hanging  him  in  effigy. 

In  1830,  the  Town  Hall  was  built,  and  the  Fire  Department 
established.  Our  population  had  then  increased  to  six  thou 
sand  four  hundred  and  seventy-seven  souls ;  the  principal 
streets  of  the  present  city  had  been  laid  out ;  and  the  once 
rural  hamlet  had  begun  to  wear  a  decidedly  urban  aspect. 

It  was  in  1830,  that  Patrick  T.  Jackson  undertook  the  Cy 
clopean  work  of  the  Boston  and  Lowell  Bailroad.  The  line 


HISTORY    OF    LOWELL.  77 

for  a  macadamized  road  had  already  been  surveyed,  when  this 
road  was  projected;  and  it  was  a  part  of  the  original  plan  to 
have  the  cars  drawn  by  horses.  But  just  "in  the  nick  of 
time,"  the  intelligence  of  Mr.  Stephenson's  brilliant  success 
in  his  experiment  with  locomotive  steam-engines  on  the  Liver 
pool  and  Manchester  Railroad,  reached  the  ever-open  ears  of 
Mr.  Jackson,  and  convinced  him  that  a  similar  road  might  be 
established  here  also.  He  corresponded  with  the  best  invent 
ors  and  mechanics  of  England,  availed  himself  of  their  valua 
ble  suggestions,  and  in  five  years  the  work  was  successfully 
completed. 

As  a  matter  of  course,  all  the  incorrigible  fogies  of  the 
country  pronounced  the  project  of  a  railroad  with  cars  pro 
pelled  by  steam,  to  be  radical,  wild  and  visionary.  Many  a 
Mrs.  Grundy  indulged  liberally  in  ridicule  at  both  Mr.  Jackson 
and  his  "  castle-in-the-air  "  railroad.  The  stockholders  com 
plained  of  the  repeated  and  enormous  assessments  which  he 
imposed  upon  them,  without  any  prospect,  as  those  timid  crea 
tures  thought,  of  any  future  dividends.  Probably  no  other 
man  then  living  in  Massachusetts  could  have  sustained  himself 
against  an  opposition  so  powerful  and  so  various.  But  the 
iron  mind  of  that  truly  great  man, — true  to  itself  as  the  needle  </ 
to  the  pole, — overcame  every  obstacle,  and  pressed  right  on 
ward  to  the  goal. 

How  much  the  actual  cost  of  this  railroad  exceeeded  all  pre 
vious  calculations,  one  fact  will  sufficiently  indicate.  In  1831, 
a  Committee  of  Stockholders  estimated  the  whole  cost  at  four 
hundred  and  fifty  thousand  dollars ;  but  out  of  the  exuberant 
liberality  of  their  generous  hearts,  they  advised  that  six  hun 
dred  thousand  dollars  be  raised  for  that  work ;  so  that  Mr. 
Jackson  might  have  means  "enough  and  to  spare."  But 
when,  in  1835,  the  road  had  been  completed,  the  actual  cost 
was  found  to  have  been  eighteen  hundred  thousand  dollars  !  or 
three  times  the  cost  of  the  Middlesex  Canal,  and  three  times 
the  cost  estimated  in  1831  ! 
7° 


78  HISTORY    OF    LOWELL. 

This  has  often  been  represented  as  the  first  railroad  started 
on  this  continent.  But  the  Boston  and  Quincy  Eaiiroad  was 
the  first  that  carried  freight — using  horse-power.  It  was  built 
in  1827.  The  first  passenger  road  was  the  Baltimore  and 
Ohio,  opened  with  horse-power  for  fifteen  miles  in  1830.  Lo 
comotives  were  first  used  in  1831  on  the  Mohawk  and  Hudson 
Eailroad,  and  in  1832  on  the  Baltimore  and  Ohio,  and  on  the 
South  Carolina  Eailroad.  The  Boston  and  Providence,  Boston 
and  Worcester,  Boston  and  Lowell  Eailroads,  were  each  open  in 
1835. 

In  cutting  through  the  mica  slate  and  gneiss  rock  near  the 
Northern  depot,  to  lay  the  track  of  this  railroad,  remarkable 
intrusions  of  trap  rock  were  uncovered,  severing  and  disturbing 
the  general  strata.  Similar  seams  of  trap  rock  were  after 
ward  disclosed  when  the  cut  was  made  through  the  ledge  on 
Fletcher  street.  Phenomena  like  these  are  always  of  interest 
to  geologists. 

In  1831,  the  Eailroad  Bank  was  established,  with  a  capital 
of  six  hundred  thousand  dollars. 

On  the  fifteenth  of  September,  1832,  occurred  the  death  of 
the  distinguished  Judge  Liverrnore.  Edward  St.  Loe  Liver- 
more  was  the  son  of  the  Hon.  Samuel  Liverrnore,  and  was 
born  at  Londonderry  (N.  H.)  in  1761.  In  1783,  he  com 
menced  the  practice  of  law  at  Concord,  and  was  Solicitor  for 
Eockingham  County  from  1791  to  1793.  From  1797  to  1799, 
.he  was  a  Judge  of  the  Superior  Court  of  New  Hampshire. 
He  was  elected  Eepresentative  in  Congress  from  the  old  Essex 
North  District  in  1807,  and  reflected  in  1809.  He  removed 
to  what  is  now  Belvidere  about  1816,  purchasing  the  estate  of 
Phillip  Gedney,  on  which  he  resided  till  his  death.  The 
Liverrnore  estate  then  passed  into  the  hands  of  John  Nesmith, 
another  native  of  Londonderry,  and  of  the  same  sinewy  Scotch- 
Irish  stock,  which  has  given  to  the  United  States  so  many 
-distinguished  men — Presidents  Jackson,  Polk,  Buchanan,  and 
Johnson,  Generals  McClellan,  Grant,  Sherman,  Butler  and  Me- 


HISTORY    OF    LOWELL.  79 

Dowell,  not  to  mention  James  Gordon  Bennett  and  Horace 
Greeley. 

In  1833,  the  Police  Court  was  established — being  the  first 
local  court  established  here,  since  Major  General  Daniel  Goo- 
kin  played  the  part  of  judge,  assisted  by  the  Apostle  Eliot 
and  the  Christian  Indian  Chiefs.  The  first  Justice  of  the  new 
court  was  Joseph  Locke. 

The  bounds  of  the  city  were  extended  in  1834,  by  the  an 
nexation  of  Belvidere ; :?  and  the  same  year  gave  birth  to  the 
Lowell  Advertiser.  After  running  for  some  time  under  the 
editorship  of  B.  E.  Hale,  the  Advertiser  passed  into  the  hands 
of  Eliphalet  Case.  In  the  list  of  Mr.  Case's  successors  are 
found  the  names  of  N.  P.  Banks,  H.  H.  Weld,  J.  G.  Abbott. 
I.  W.  Beard,  William  Butterfield,  Henry  E.  and  Samuel  C. 
Baldwin,  Fisher  A.  Hildreth,  .Robbing  Dinsmore,  and  J.  J.  Ma- 
guire.  The  Advertiser  always  supported  the  Democracy  ;  but 
the  Democracy  never  supported  the  Advertiser  ;  and  in  1864 
it  collapsed. 

In  1833  the  Lowell  Irish  Benevolent  Society  was  estab 
lished.  Their  charitable  disbursements  amount  to  fifteen 
hundred  dollars  per  annum.  In  1843,  this  society  was  incor- 
poratad  by  the  Legislature. 

In  1833,  Francis  A.  Calvert  began  in  Lowell  that  career  of 
mechanical  invention,  which  has  given  to  the  world  the  bur- 
ring-machine,  the  comber,  and  the  cotton-willow.  The  first 
worsted-spinning  machinery  in  Lowell  was  built  and  started 
by  him.  As  the  final  product  of  his  genius,  the  world  is  yet 
promised  a  percussive  steam-engine,  though  this  chef  d'ceuvre 
remains  thus  far  imperfect.  His  ingenious  brother,  William 
W.  Calvert,  came  to  Lowell  in  1825,  and  remained  for  twenty 
years.  He  died  in  1847,  at  Panama. 

On  the  26th  of  June,  1833,  Andrew  Jackson,  President  of 
the  United  States,  made  a  visit  to  Lowell,  accompanied  by 

'•'  The  beautiful  faubourg  of  Belvidere  received  its  name  originally  as  a 
term  of  reproach,  on  account  of  the  lawless  scenes  then  frequently  witnessed 
there. 


80  HISTORY    OF    LOWELL. 

Martin  Van  Bureu,  then  Vice  President,  Judge  Woodbury, 
and  other  members  of  the  Cabinet.  A  brief  address  of  wel 
come  was  made  by  Joshua  Swan,  Chairman  of  the  Board  of 
Selectmen  ;  to  which  the  President  made  an  appropriate  re 
sponse.  He  then  proceeded  through  the  principal  streets, 
where  triumphal  arches  had  been  erected  and  decorated  artis 
tically  with  flags  and  flowers.  He  was  escorted  by  the  Select 
men,  the  Committee  of  Arrangements,  (of  which  Kirk  Boott 
was  Chairman) ,  a  regiment  of  militia,  a  cavalcade  of  two  hun 
dred  citizens,  six  hundred  school  children,  and  over  twenty-five 
hundred  factory  girls.  Clothed  in  white,  these  Lowell  factory 
girls  looked  like  "livered  angels."  They  walked  four  deep, 
and  their  beauty  and  their  elegance  of  dress  were  greatly 
admired.  The  procession  passed  in  review  before  the  Presi 
dent,  with  drums  beating,  cannon  booming,  banners  flying, 
handkerchiefs  waving,  and  nine  times  nine  hearty  cheers  of 
welcome.  The  old  hero  could  hardly  have  been  more  moved 
amid  the  din  of  battle  at  New  Orleans,  than  by  the  exhilerat- 
ing  spectacle  here  presented.  He  seemed  to  enter  Lowell,  as 
Scipio  entered  Rome  after  the  defeat  of  Hannibal,  or  as  Napo 
leon  entered  Paris  after  the  treaty  of  Campo  Formio.  The 
procession  over,  the  President  visited  the  Merrimack  Com 
pany's  mills,  and  saw  some  of  the  works  put  in  operation  by 
the  girls  in  their  gala  attire.  On  his  return  to  the  hotel,  he 
was  visited  by  a  young  lady,  who  requested  the  privilege  of 
kissing  the  father  of  her  country.  It  was  a  startling  request  ; 
but  Jackson  submitted  with  becoming  resignation. 

It  is  interesting  to  observe  how  a  spectacle  like  this  impressed 
the  imagination  of  the  distinguished  French  statesman,  Cheva 
lier,  now  Minister  of  Finance  to  Napoleon  the  Third  : — 

''  If  these  scenes  were  to  find  a  painter,  they  would  be  admired  at  a  dis 
tance,  not  less  than  the  triumphs  and  sacrificial  pomps  which  the  ancients  have 
left  us  delineated  in  marble  and  brass;  for  they  are  not  mere  grotesques  after 
the  manner  of  Rembrandt — they  belong  to  history,  they  partake  of  the  grand; 
they  are  the  episodes  of  a  wondrous  epic  which  will  bequeath  a  lasting  memory 
to  posterity,  that  of  the  coming  of  democracy." 


HISTORY    OP    LOWELL.  81 

Four  months  after  Jackson's  departure,  October  25th,  1833, 
Henry  Clay  visited  Lowell,  was  shown  through  the  mills  and 
schools,  and  treated  with  all  the  attention  due  to  so  distin 
guished  a  guest.  Luther  Lawrence  was  Chairman  of  the 
Committee  of  Arrangements,  Kirk  Boott  having  declined. 
Kemembering  how  Clay  had  advocated  the  declaration  of  war 
against  England  in  1812, — how  he  had  made  his  country  the 
cat's-paw  of  Napoleon, — and  how,  on  Napoleon's  downfall,  he 
had  patched  up  a  hasty  peace,  without  securing  one  of  the 
objects  for  which  war  had  been  declared, — Mr.  Boott  utterly 
refused  to  assist  in"  any  honors  to  Mr.  Clay. 

In  the  evening,  Mr.  Clay  addressed  the  citizens  in  the  Town 
Hall,  which  was  illuminated  with  candles ;  and  though  Kirk 
Boott  was  not  there,  the  hall  was  filled  to  its  utmost  capacity. 
Never,  probably,  has  an  orator  faced  a  more  enthusiastic  au 
dience.  Never  was  an  audience  moved  by  a  more  impassioned 
orator. 

Nineteen  years  rolled  away;  the  twenty-fifth  of  October 
came  round  again :  but  the  sleep  that  knows  no  waking  had 
fallen  on  Henry  Clay  ;  and  all  that  was  mortal  of  his  great 
compeer.  Daniel  Webster,  lay  in  the  chamber  at  Marshfield 
attired  for  the  tomb  ! 

In  May,  1834,  the  famous  comic  statesman,  Colonel  David 
Crockett,  visited  Lowell,  and  was  hospitably  entertained  at  the 
Stone  House,  near  Pawtucket  Falls.  He  visited  the  factories; 
and  at  the  Middlesex  Mills,  Samuel  Lawrence  presented  him 
with  a  suit  of  broadcloth.  He  met  the  young  men  of  Lowell, 
by  tlieir  request,  at  supper,  and  made  a  shrewd,  sensible  speech, 
full  of  Crockettisms  and  fun.0 

A  few  months  after  Crockett,  came  George  Thompson,  Mem 
ber  of  Parliament  and  Abolitionist,  who,  as  many  a  village 
politician  verily  believed,  was  sent  on  his  campaign  in  the  Un 
ited  States  by  the  British  Government,  and  had  his  pockets 
loaded  with  British  gold,  for  the  express  purpose  of  breaking 

*  Crockett's  Life  of  Himself,  p.  217. 


82  HISTORY    OF    LOWELL. 

v/ up  our  glorious  Union.  On  October  5th,  1834,  he  spoke  in 
the  Town  Hall,  where  "gentlemen  of  property  and  standing" 
banded  together  and  mobbed  him  as  an  emissary  of  the  devil. 
A  brick  which  was  thrown  at  him  through  the  window,  and 
which  failed  to  hit  him,  was  long  preserved  as  a  sacred  relic 
by  the  late  H.  L.  C.  Newton,  one  of  Thompson's  most  ardent 
friends. 

It  was  in  1834  that  M.  Chevalier,  the  French  political  econo 
mist,  already  mentioned,  was  sent  to  this  country  by  M.  Thiers, 
Minister  of  the  Interior  to  Louis  Phillippi,  for  the  purpose  of 
inspecting  the  public  works  of  the  United  States.  His  impres 
sions  touching  the  characteristics  of  our  social  organization 
and  the  workings  of  our  political  institutions,  were  published 
in  letters  to  the  Journal  des  Debats,  and  afterward  as  a  sepa 
rate  work.  These  letters  attracted  great  attention  at  the  time. 
In  a  letter  from  Lowell,  he  says : 

"Unlike  the  cities  of  Europe,  which  were  built  by  some  dcmi-god,  son  of 
Jupiter,  or  by  some  hero  of  the  eeige  of  Troy,  or  by  an  inspiration  of  the  genius 
of  a  Caeser  or  an  Alexander,  or  by  the  assistance  of  some  holy  monk,  attracting 
crowds  by  his  miracles,  or  by  the  caprice  of  some  great  king,  like  Louis  XIV. 
or  Frederick,  or  by  an  edict  of  Peter  the  Great,  it  (Lowell)  is  neither  a  pious 
foundation,  a  refuge  of  the  persecuted,  nor  a  military  post.  It  is  a  speculation 
of  the  merchants  of  Boston.  The  same  spirit  of  enterprise  which  the  last  year 
suggested  to  them  to  send  a  cargo  of  ice  to  Calcutta,  that  Lord  William  Ben- 
tinck  and  the  Nabobs  of  the  India  Company  might  drink  their  wine  cool,  has 
led  them  to  build  a  city,  wholly  at  their  expense,  with  all  the  edificics  required 
by  an  advanced  civilization,  for  the  purpose  of  manufacturing  cotton  cloths 
and  printed  calicoes.  They  have  succeeded,  as  they  usually  do,  in  their  spec 
ulations."* 

Foreseeing  that  the  Merrimack  Valley  and  indeed  all  New 
England  would  become  to  Boston  what  Lancashire  was  to 
Liverpool,  M.  Chevalier  continues : 

"  The  inhabitants  possess  in  the  highest  degree  a  genius  for  mechanics. 
They  are  patient,  skillful,  full  of  invention  ; — they  must  increase  in  manufac 
tures.  It  is  in  fact  already  done,  and  Lowell  is  a  little  Manchester." 

So  pleased  was  M.  Chevalier  with  the  factories  and  factory 
girls  of  Lowell,  that,  more  than  thirty  years  later,  in  1866, 
when  a  member  of  the  Commission  charged  with  the  organiza- 

*  Letters  from  the  United  States,  p.  131. 


HISTOEY    OF    LOWELL.  83 

tion  of  the  Exposition  of  1867,  he  wrote  to  Senator  Sumner, 
invoking  his  efforts  to  have  a  group  of  these  girls  sent  to  Paris, 
with  their  looms,  so  that  they  might  be  seen  in  Paris,  at  work, 
as  they  are  seen  in  Lowell. 

In  1835,  Joel  Stone  of  Lowell  and  J.  P.  Simpson  of  Boston 
built  the  steamboat  "  Herald,"  and  placed  her  upon  the  Mer- 
rimack  to  ply  twice  a  day  between  Lowell  and  Nashua.  But 
owing  to  the  shortness  of  the  distance,  the  inconvenience  of 
the  landing-places,  and  the  necessity  for  shiftings  of  the  pas 
sengers  and  baggage,  this  enterprise  proved  a  failure,  even 
before  the  railroad  was  opened  between  the  two  termini.  It 
was,  however,  continued  by  Joseph  Bradley  until  after  the  open 
ing  of  the  railroad,  when  the  boat  was  taken  to  Newburyport, 
and  sold  for  service  elsewhere. 

In  the  same  year  that  the  "Herald"  began  her  trips,  the 
Nashua  and  Lowell  Kailroad  Company  was  incorporated,  with 
a  capital  of  $600,000.  The  Lowell  Almshouse  dates  from  the 
same  year. 

The  Hall  of  the  Middlesex  Mechanics'  Association  was  also 
erected  in  1835,  chiefly  by  contributions  from  the  various  man 
ufacturing  companies  of  Lowell.  In  this  hall  hang  full-length 
paintings  of  George  Washington,  Kirk  Boott,  Patrick  T.  Jack 
son,  Abbott  Lawrence,  Nathan  Appleton,  and  John  A.  Lowell. 
There,  too,  are  half-length  portraits  of  Daniel  Webster  and 
Elisha  Huntington,  with  busts  of  Abraham  Lincoln  and  George 
Peabody. 

On  the  sixth  of  January,  1835,  first  appeared  the  Lowell 
Courier,  the  oldest  daily  newspaper  now  existing  in  Middlesex 
County.  For  ten  years  it  was  published  tri-weekly  only,  but 
became  a  daily  in  1845.  Its  publishers  were  Leonard  Hunt 
ress  and  Daniel  H.  Knowlton,  and  it  was  printed  in  the  office 
of  the  Mercury — a  weekly  paper  started  in  1829,  and  after 
ward  consolidated  with  the  Courier,  In  the  February  follow 
ing,  the  Journal  also  was  consolidated  with  the  Courier.  In 
the  editorial  roll  of  the  Journal,  and  of  the  Courier,  during 


84  HISTORY    OF    LOWELL. 

the  last  forty  years,  we  find  the  names  of  John  S.  C.  Knowl- 
ton,  John  E.  Adams,  John  L.  Sheafe,  Edward  C.  Purdy,  John 
S.  Sleeper,  H.  H.  Weld,  John  P.  Robinson,  Seth  Ames,  Charles 
H.  Locke,  Daniel  H.  Knowlton,  Leonard  Huntress,  Thomas 
Hopkinson,  Elisha  Bartlett,  Elisha  Huntington,  Elisha  Puller, 
Albert  Locke,  Bobbins  Dinsmore,  William  0.  Bartlett,  Daniel 
S.  Eichardson,  William  Schouler,  William  S.  Eobinson,  James 
Atkinson,  Leander  E.  Streeter,  John  H.  Warland,  Charles  Cow- 
ley,  John  A.  Goodwin,  Benjamin  W.  Ball,  Samuel  N.  Merrill, 
Homer  A.  Cooke,  Zina  E.  Stone  and  George  A.  Harden. 

In  this  list  are  many  of  the  ablest  men  that  have  ever  re 
sided  in  Lowell.  Under  their  management  this  paper  was 
often  quoted  as  authority  by  other  journals  in  New  England. 
But  the  gravitation  of  all  things  toward  Boston,  with  the  im 
mense  and  inevitable  superiority  of  the  papers  of  that  city, 
has  arrested  the  growth  of  the  Courier,  and  of  many  other 
papers  within  equal  proximity  to  "  the  Hub."  What  with 
steam-railroads,  horse-railroads,  telegraphs  and  the  habit  of 
traveling,  Lowell  is  now,  practically,  as  near  to  Boston  as 
Charlestown  was  in  the  first  days  of  the  Courier.  It  is  time 
that  counts  now.  Space  is  extinguished. 

By  this  time,  the  fame  of  Lowell  as  a  theatre  of  the  Cotton 
Manufacture  had  extended  throughout  Christendom.  The 
solid  Englishman,  the  impressible  Frenchman,  the  phlegmatic 
Dutchman,  thought  the  tour  of  the  United  States  incomplete 
until  he  had  visited  Lowell.  It  was  not  enough  to  visit  New 
York  and  New  Orleans,  traverse  the  prairies,  climb  the  Alle- 
ghanies,  and  listen  to  the  thunder  of  Niagara.  He  must  come 
to  the  City  of  Spindles,  and  enter  the  great  temples  of  the 
"  Divinity  of  Labor,"  each  more  spacious  than  the  Temple  of 
Jeddo,  the  Mosque  of  St.  Sophia,  or  the  Cathedral  of  Milan ; 
and  hear  from  the  legions  of  priests  and  priestesses  "  the 
Gospel  according  to  Poor  Eichard's  Almanac." 

Through  these  visitors,  Lowell  first  awoke  to  the  singular 
beauty  of  her  own  natural  scenery.  The  whole  valley  of  the 


HISTORY    OF    LOWELL.  85 

Merrimack  is  noted  for  its  picturesqueness ;  but  from  the 
mountains  to  the  main,  there  is  no  lovelier  scene  than  that 
which  meets  the  eye  when  from  the  summit  of  Christian  Hill, 
we  look  down  upon  Lowell,  and  survey  the  varied  landscape 
unrolled  like  a  beautiful  map  before  us.  The  spacious  natural 
amphitheatre  surrounded  by  hills, — the  sky-blue  rivers, — 
the  long  lines  of  mills. — the  labyrinth  of  brick  and  masonry, 
— the  obeliscal  chimnies  curtaining  the  heavens  with  smoke, — 
the  spires  of  churches,  belfries  of  factories,  and  gables  o 
houses, — the  radiant  cross  of  St.  Patrick's  pointing  away  from 
earth, — the  forests  in  the  background,  and  the  noble  blue 
mountains  of  Monadnock,  Wachusett  and  Watatic  in  the 
distance, — all  combine  to  form  a  scene  that  must  be  pleasing 
to  every  eye  that  has  been  quickened  to  the  beauties  of  art  and 
nature. 


CHAPTER  VI. 


CHURCH    HISTORY    OF    LOWELL. 

St.  Anne's— First  Baptist— First  Congregational— St.  Paul's— First  Univer- 
salist— Unitarian— A ppleton  Street  Congregational— Worthen  Street  Bap 
tist— St.  Patrick's— Freewill  Baptist— Second  Universalist— Third  Baptist 
—John  Street  Congregational— Worthen  Street  Methodist— St.  Peter's— 
Ministry-at-Large— Kirk  Street  Congregational— High  Street  Congrega 
tional— St.  Mary's— Third  Universalist— Central  Methodist— Lee  Street 
Unitarian— Prescott  Street  Wesleyan— Methodist  Protestant  Church— St. 
John's. 

St.  Anne's  Church  was  the  first  edifice  that  was  dedicated 
to  religious  worship  in  the  present  territory  of  Lowell,  since 
the  erection  of  that  modest  log  chapel  in  which  the  Rev.  John 
Eliot  and  his  Indian  assistant,  Samuel,  preached  to  the  copper- 
colored  Christians  of  Warnesit,  two  centuries  ago. 
8 


86  HISTOBY    OF    LOWELL. 

The  founders  of  the  Merrimack  Corporation  made  early 
provision  ffir  religious  worship  among  their  operatives.  "In 
December,  1822,"  says  Appleton,  "Messrs.  Jackson  and  Boott 
were  appointed  a  committee  to  build  a  suitable  church ;  and 
in  April,  1824,  it  was  voted  that  it  should  be  built  of  stone, 
not  to  exceed  a  cost  of  nine  thousand  dollars."  The  Epis 
copal  form  of  service  was  adopted,  because  Mr.  Boott  was 
an  Episcopalian,  and  naturally  desired  to  bring  into  "the 
Church  "  as  many  as  possible  of  the  people  then  flocking  to 
East  Chelmsford,  some  of  whom  had  drank  of  one  dilution  of 
Christianity,  some  of  another,  and  some  of  none  at  all.  The 
church  was  organized,  February  24th,  1824,  and  was  called 
originally  "  The  Merrimack  Religious  Society." 


The  first  public  religious  services  were  conducted  by  the 
Rev.  Theodore  Edson,  on  Sunday,  March  7th,  1824,  in  the 
Merrimack  Company's  School  House,  which  was  opened  to 
pupils  the  same  year.  The  church  edifice  and  the  parsonage 
adjoining  were  erected  in  1825.  It  is  a  substantial  edifice, 
built  of  dark  stone,  with  Gothic  doors  and  arched  windows, 
and  shaded  by  forest  trees.  The  cost  of  the  edifice,  including 


HISTORY    OF    LOWELL.  87 

subsequent  additions,  was  about  $16,000.  It  was  consecrated 
by  Bishop  Griswold,  March  16th,  1825.*  The  Eev.  Dr.  Ed- 
son,  the  first  and  only  rector  of  this  church,  bids  fair  to  cele 
brate  the  Jubilee  of  St.  Anne's,  in  1874. 

In  the  tower  of  St.  Anne's  is  a  chime  of  eleven  bells, 
mounted  in  1857,  weighing  nearly  ten  thousand  pounds  and 
costing  over  $4,000.  Their  sonorous  tones  would  be  better 
appreciated  had  they  -been  placed  higher. 

"Amid  these  peaceful  scenes  their  sound 

Has  soothed  the  wretched — cheered  the  poor; 
In  them  has  Love  a  solace  found, 
And  Hope  a  friend  sincere  and  sure." 

On  the  eighth  of  February,  1826,  the  First  Baptist  Church 
was  organized.  The  church  edifice — one  of  the  largest  in 
Lowell  —  was  built  the  same  year,  the  land  being  given  to 
the  society  by  Mr.  Thomas  Kurd,  the  satinet  manufacturer 
mentioned  in  a  former  chapter.  The  edifice,  which  cost  over 
$10,000,  was  dedicated  November  15th,  1826,  when  the  Kev. 
John  Cookson  was  installed  as  pastor.  He  was  dismissed 
August  5th,  1827,  and  was  succeeded,  June  4th,  1828,  by 
the  Kev.  Enoch  W.  Freeman,  who  remained  until  his  myste 
rious  death,  September  22nd,  1835.  Rev.  Joseph  W.  Eaton 
was  ordained  pastor  of  this  church,  February  24th,  1836, 
and  dismissed  February  1st,  1837.  Eev.  Joseph  Ballard  was 
installed  December  25th,  1837,  and  dismissed  September  1st, 

1845.  Rev.  Daniel  C.  Eddy  was   ordained,   January  29th, 

1846,  and  dismissed  after  a  longer  pastorate  than  any  of  his 
predecessors,  at  the  close  of  1856.      Dr.  Eddy  was  Speaker 
of  the  Massachusetts  House  of  Representatives  in  1855,  and 
Chaplain  of  the  Senate  in  1856.     Rev.  William  H.  Alden  was 
installed  June   14th,    1857,   and   dismissed  in  April,    1864. 
Rev.  William  E.  Stanton  was  ordained  November  2nd,  1865. 

The  First  Congregational  Church  was  organized  June  6th, 
1826.  The  church  edifice  was  built  in  1827,  on  land  given 

*See  the  St.  Anne's  Church  case,  14  Gray,  pp.  586-613;  and  Edson's  Thir 
tieth  Anniversary  Sermon. 


88 


HISTORY    OF    LOWELL. 


by  the  Locks  and  Canals  Company,  and  cost,  with  improve 
ments,  some  $13,000.  The  first  pastor,  Eev.  George  C.  Beck- 
with,  was  ordained  July  18th,  1827,  and  dismissed  March 
18th,  1829.  Kev.  Amos  Blanchard,  D.  D.,  was  ordained 
December  5th,  1829,  and  dismissed  May  21st.  1845,  when 
he  became  pastor  of  the  Kirk  Street  church.  Eev.  Willard 
Child  was  installed  pastor,  October  1st,  1845,  and  dismissed 
January  31st,  1855.  Eev.  J.  L.  Jenkins  was  ordained  Octo 
ber  17th,  1855,  and  dismissed  in  April,  1862.  Eev.  George  N. 
Webber  was  installed  in  October,  1862,  and  dismissed  April 
1st,  1867.  Eev.  Horace  James,  the  present  pastor,  succeeded 
him. 


The  Hurd  Street  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  dates  from 
1826.  The  edifice  is  the  largest  Protestant  church  in  Lowell ; 
it  was  erected  in  1839,  at  an  expense  of  $18,500.  It  being 
the  custom  of  the  denomination  to  make  frequent  changes  in 


HISTORY    OF    LOWELL. 


89 


the  location  of  their  clergy,  the  pastors  of  this  church  have 
been  numerous,  and  their  terms  of  service  brief.  Rev.  Ben 
jamin  Griffin  was  pastor  in  1826  ;  A.  D.  Merrill  in  1827  ; 
B.  F.  Lambert  in  1828 ;  A.  D.  Sargeant  in  1829  ;  E.  K.  Avery 
in  1830  and  1831;  George  Pickering  in  1832;  A.  D.  Mer 
rill,  for  the  second  time,  in  1833  and  1834  ;  Ira  M.  Bidwell 
in  1835;  Orange  Scott  in  1836;  E.  M.  Stickney  in  1837 
and  1838  ;  Orange  Scott,  again,  in  1839  and  1840  ;  Schuyler 
Hoes  in  1841  and  1842;  W.  H.  Hatch  in  1843  and  1844; 
Abel  Stevens  in  1845  ;  C.  K.  True  in  1846  and  1847  ;  A.  A. 
Willets  in  1848  ;  John  H.  Twombly  in  1849  and  1850  ;  G. 
E.  Cox  in  1851  and  1852  ;  L.  D.  Barrows  in  1853  and  1854; 
D.  E.  Chapin  1855  ;  George  M.  Steele  in  1856  and  1857  ; 
H.  M.  Loud  in  1858  and  1859  ;  William  K.  Clark  in  1860 
and  1861  ;  Daniel  Dorchester  in  1862  and  1863  ;  Samuel  F. 
Upham  in  1864,  1865  and  1866.  In  1865,  Rev.  Mr.  Upham 
was  Chaplain  of  the  Massachusetts  House  of  Eepresentatives. 
He  was  succeeded  by  Rev.  S.  F.  Jones,  in  1867. 


In  July,  1827,  a  society  was  organized  under  the  name  of 
the  First  Universalist  Church.      In  the  following  year,  they 


90  HISTORY    OF    LOWELL. 

erected  their  church  on  Chapel  street,  but  removed  it  in  1837 
to  Central  street.  The  edifice  cost  $16,000.  The  first  pastor 
settled  over  this  church  was  the  Bev.  Eliphalet  Case,  who 
officiated  here  from  1828  to  1830,  but  afterward  abandoned 
the  ministry  to  become  a  reformer,  a  politician,  a  post-master, 
a  journalist,  and  a  rum-seller.  The  next  four  pastors  were 
Calvin  Gardner,  from  1830  to  1833  ;  Thomas  B.  Thayer,  from 
1833  to  1845;  E.  G.  Brooks,  in  1845;  and  Uriah  Clark, 
from  1846  to  1850,  when  he  began  to  develope  "Free  Love" 
proclivities.  Kev.  T.  B.  Thayer  was  again  settled  here  in 
1851,  and  remained  till  October,  1857.  He  was  much  be 
loved  by  his  people,  and  the  regrets  which  attended  his  depar 
ture,  were  intensified  by  a  painful  accident  shortly  afterward, 
which  involved  the  fracture  and  almost  loss  of  a  leg,  with  the 
additional  affliction  of  a  newspaper  war  with  some  of  his  own 
surgeons.  In  1859,  Kev.  J.  J.  Twiss  succeeded  Dr.  Thayer. 

At  the  time  of  the  organization  of  this  society,  the  lords 
of  the  loom,  under  the  monarchy  of  Kirk  Boott,  exercised 
arbitrary  power,  not  only  over  the  acts  and  votes,  but  also 
over  the  thoughts  and  even  over  the  charities  of  those  in  their 
employ.  To  cherish  the  hope  that  the  loving-kindness  of  the 
Father  will  attend  the  whole  family  of  man  through  the  life  to 
come,  was  enough  to  put  any  man  under  a  cloud.  Tor  contrib 
uting  toward  the  erection  of  this  church,  and  for  advocating 
the  principles  of  Gen.  Jackson,  Mr.  (now  Bev.)  T.  J.  Green 
wood  was  dismissed  from  his  place  as  an  overseer  on  the  Mer- 
rimack  Corporation  by  the  direct  order  of  Mr.  Boott.  Such 
an  act  of  bigotry  would  hardly  occur  now.  We  have  made 
some  progress  during  the  forty  years  of  Lowell.  By  the  way, 
it  was  in  Mr.  Greenwood's  room,  that  Nathaniel  P.  Banks 
began  his  career  as  a  ''bobbin-boy,"  ere  yet  he  aspired  to  be 
come  a  lawyer,  legislator,  governor,  major-general,  etc. 

The  South  Congregational  (Unitarian)  Church  was  organized 
November  7th,  1830.  The  edifice,  cost  $32,000,  and  was  ded 
icated  December  25th,  1832.  Bev.  William  Barry  was  pastor 


HISTORY    OF    LOWELL.  91 

of  this  church  from  1830  to  1835  ;  Henry  A.  Miles,  D.  D., 
from  1836  to  1853;  Theodore  Tibbetts,  in  1855  and  1856; 
Frederick  Hinckley,  from  1856  to  1864.  Kev.  Charles  Grin- 
nell  was  ordained  pastor  February  19th,  1867. 


The  Appleton  Street  (Orthodox)  Congregational  Church  dates 
from  December  2nd,  1830.  The  edifice,  which  cost  $9,000, 
was  erected  in  1831.  The  succession  of  pastors  has  been — 
"William  Twining  from  1831  to  1835  ;  U.  C.  Burnap,  from 
1837  to  1852;  George  Darling,  from  1852  to  1855  ;  John  P. 
Cleaveland,  D.  D.,  from  1855  to  1862,  when  he  became  Chap 
lain  of  the  Thirtieth  Kegiment,  in  the  Department  of  the  Gulf; 
J.  E.  Kankin,  from  1863  to  1865.  Eev.  A.  P.  Foster  was 
ordained  October  3rd,  1866. 

The  Worthen  Street  Baptist  Church  was  organized  in  1831. 
The  edifice  known  as  St.  Mary's  Church  was  built  for  this 
society.  The  present  edifice  was  built  in  1838,  costing  $8,000. 
The  pastors  have  been — James  Barnaby,  from  1832  to  1835  ; 
Lemuel  Porter,  from  1835  to  1851  ;  J.  W.  Smith,  from  1851 
to  1853  ;  D.  D.  Winn,  from  1853  to  1855  ;  T.  D.  Worrall,  of 


92  HISTOEY    OF    LOWELL. 

memory  like  Uriah  Clark,  from  1855  to  1857  ;  J.  W.  Bonham, 
from  1857  to  1860 ;  George  F.  Warren,  from  1860  to  1867. 

The  digging  of  the  canals  and  the  building  of  the  mills 
early  attracted  the  sons  of  "the  Emerald  Isle"  to  Lowell. 
Different  clergymen  of  their  faith  attended  them  here,  secured 
for  the  time  such  places  as  were  obtainable,  and  offered  "the 
clean  sacrifice  for  the  quick  and  dead."  In  1831,  a  church 
was  erected  called  St.  Patrick's,  which  was  replaced  in  1854 
by  the  splendid  edifice  which  now  bears  that  name,  the  cost  of 
which  was  about  $75,000.  This  building  is  186  feet  long  by 
106  wide.  The  height  of  the  body  of  the  church  is  61  feet 
from  the  floor.  The  architecture  is  of  the  Gothic  style  of  the 
thirteenth  century.  Bishop  Fitzpatrick  of  Boston,  assisted  by 
Bishop  O'Eiley  of  Hartford,  consecrated  this  church,  October 
29th,  1854.  The  pastors  of  St.  Patrick's  have  been — Eevs. 
John  Mahoney,  Peter  Connelly,  James  T.  McDermott,  Henry 
J.  Tucker,  and  John  O'Brien.  Among  the  many  assistants 
that  have  officiated  here,  was  Rev.  Timothy  O'Brien,  who  died 
in  1855,  and  to  whose  memory  an  elegant  monument  was  erected 
in  St.  Patrick's  Church -yard. 

In  1833,  a  free  church  of  the  Christian  denomination  was 
organized  under  the  ministry  of  Eev.  Timothy  Cole.  Success 
ful  for  some  years,  the  experiment  finally  failed ;  and  Cole's 
church,  after  passing  through  the  hands  of  the  Methodists, 
became  first  a  dance-hall,  and  afterward  the  armory  of  the 
Jackson  Musketeers,  an  Irish  military  company,  .whose  mus 
kets  were  taken  from  them  by  Gov.  Gardner.  Having  men 
tioned  the  Jackson  Musketeers,  it  is  but  fair  to  say  that  when 
the  late  war  broke  out  in  1861,  they  forgot  and  forgave  the 
Know  Nothing  fanaticism  of  1855,  and,  rushing  to  arms  among 
the  first,  illustrated  on  many  a  bloody  field  how  bravely  the 
sons  of  Ireland  die  for  their  adopted  homes. 

The  Freewill  Baptist  Church  was  organized  in  1834.  The 
proprietors  were  incorporated  in  1836.  The  spacious  edifice 
on  Merrimack  street,  opposite  Central  street,  was  erected  in 


HISTORY    OF    LOWELL.  93 

1837,  at  a  cost  of  $20,000,  which  was  largely  contributed  by 
the  factory  girls.  There  preached  the  somewhat  famous  Elder 
Thurston,  now  no  more  ;  an  honest  man,  and  popular  as  a 
preacher,  but  incapable  of  managing  important  matters  of 
business,  such  as  he  was  foolishly  encouraged  to  undertake, 
in  connection  with  this  church.  Through  his  incapacity,  more 
than  ten  thousand  dollars  was  lost,  in  the  course  of  six  years, 
and  a  tremendous  panic  ensued.  He  was  denounced  as  a 
thief,  and  indicted  and  convicted  of  cheating ;  but  the  Supreme 
Court  set  the  verdict  aside,  and  the  prosecution  of  the  elder 
was  stopped. 

Then  arose  controversies  about  the  church  property,0  which 
was  under  more  than  fifty  attachments  at  once.  These  suits 
ended  adversely  to  the  society  ;  and  on  July  29th,  1846,  the 
deacons  were  forcibly  ejected  from  the  church  by  Joseph 
Butterfield,  a  Deputy  Sheriff,  on  an  execution  issued  upon  a 
judgment  belonging  to  Benjamin  F.  Butler,  Thomas  Hopkin- 
son,  and  Tappan  Wentworth,  who  personally  assisted  in  oust 
ing  the  deacons. 

That  comedy  might  follow  tragedy,  the  new  proprietors, 
Benjamin  F.  Butler  and  Fisher  A.  Hildreth,  converted  the 
church  into  a  museum  and  theatre.  After  being  used  thus 
for  nine  years,  once  struck  by  lightning,  and  three  times 
burned,  in  1856,  this  ill-starred  edifice  was  fitted  up  for  a 
dance-hall,  a  bowling  alley,  lawyers'  offices,  a  newspaper  office, 
an  exchange,  etc. 

Attempts  have  been  made  to  use  one  part  of  it  as  a  lecture- 
hall,  but  without  success  ;  though  the  famous  Lola  Montez, 
the  discarded  mistress  of  the  late  king  of  Bavaria,  delivered 
her  lecture  on  Beautiful  Women  here.  Nor  have  the  attempts 
to  use  this  edifice  as  a  caucus-hall  been  any  more  successful. 
The  last  attempt  of  the  kind  was  made  in  1860.  On  that 
memorable  occasion,  Theodore  H.  Sweetser  began  a  speech 
but  just  as  he  was  capping  his  first  climax,  a  gentleman  who 

*8  Metcalf,  301;  2  dishing,  597;  4  Gushing,  302. 


94 


HISTORY    OF    LOWELL. 


disapproved  of  his  remarks,  suddenly  turned  off  the  gas,  and 
"  brought  down  the  house  "  in  the  wildest  merriment  and  con 
fusion. 

The  strategical  manoeuverings  by  which  this  edifice  was 
transferred  from  the  ecclesiastical  proprietors  to  their  lay 
successors,  were  none  too  creditable  to  the  consciences  of  the 
manipulators.  But  perhaps  they  did  not  fully  realize  the 
scandalousness  of  their  proceedings,  and  failed  to  hear  the 
still,  small  voice  of  conscience  in  following  the  more  clamor 
ous  calls  of  avarice  and  ambition. 

More  than  twenty  years  have  now  elapsed  since  the  perver 
sion  of  this  edifice  into  a  museum.  Let  us  hope  that  before 
another  twenty  years  have  rolled  by,  this  church — the  mon 
ument  of  the  piety  of  the  factory  girls  of  Lowell — will  be 
restored  to  its  original  purposes,  and  reconsecrated  to  the  wor 
ship  of  the  everliving  God. 


In  1853,  another  edifice  was  built  on  Paige  street,  costing 
$16,700,  now  occupied  by  this  church.  The  pastors  of  this 
church  have  been — Eevs.  Nathaniel  Thurston,  Jonathan  Wood- 


HISTORY    OF    LOWELL.  95 

man,  Silas  Curtis,  A.  K.  Moulton,  J.  B.  Davis,  Darwin  Mott, 
(a  wolf  in  sheep's  clothing,  who  finally  ran  away  with  another 
man's  wife,)  George  W.  Bean,  and  J.  B.  Drew. 

The  Second  Universalist  Church  was  gathered  in  1836,  and 
the  house  erected  in  1837,  at  a  cost  of  $20,000.'  The  pastors 
of  this  church  have  been — Z.  Thompson,  from  ^183  7  to  1839  ; 
Abel  C.  Thomas,  from  1839  to  1842  ;  A.  A.* Miner,  D.  D., 
from.  1842  to  1848;  L.  J.  Fletcher,  who  became  involved  in 
his  domestic  relations,  and  remained  but  a  few  months ;  L.  B. 
Mason,  from  1848  to  1849  ;  I.  D.  Williamson,  from  1849  to 
1850;  N.  M.  Gaylord,  from  1850  to  1853.  John  S.  Dennis, 
Charles  Cravens  and  Charles  H.  Dutton  were  then  settled  here 
for  a  few  months  each.  In  1859,  Eev.  L.  J.  Fletcher  again 
became  pastor,  having,  since  his  former  settlement,  run  a  varied 
career  as  preacher,  play-writer,  actor,  gold-miner,  school-master, 
lawyer,  politician,  judge  of  insolvency,  etc.  His  second  pasto 
rate  continued  three  years,  and  was  eminently  successful.  Eev. 
F.  E.  Hicks  succeeded  Mr.  Fletcher,  but  soon  died,  and  was 
succeeded  in  1866  by  Eev.  John  G.  Adams. 

On  July  4th,  1836,  the  Lowell  Sabbath  School  Union  was 
organized,  by  the  pastors  of  the  several  evangelical  churches, 
and  the  superintendents  and  teachers  of  the  various  Sunday 
Schools  connected  therewith. 

The  John  Street  (Orthodox)  Congregational  Church  was 
organized  May  9th,  1839.  Their  edifice  was  built  the  same 
year,  at  a  cost  of  $20,000,  and  dedicated  January  24th,  1840. 
Eev.  Stedman  W.  Hanks,  the  first  pastor,  was  ordained  March 
20th,  1840,  and  dismissed  February  3rd,  1853.  He  was  suc 
ceeded  by  Eev.  Eden  B.  Foster,  D.  D.,  who  resigned  his  charge 
in  1861,  but  resumed  his  ministrations  here  in  1866.  During 
his  absence,  Eev.  Joseph  W.  Backus,  was  pastor. 

In  1840,  the  Third  Baptist  Church  was  organized.  In  1846, 
the  edifice  now  occupied  by  the  Central  Methodist  Church,  was 
built  for  this  society,  costing  about  $14,000.  After  battling 
for  life  for  nearly  twenty  years,  under  the  pasterates  of  Eevs. 


96 


HISTORY    OF    LOWELL. 


John  G.  Naylor,  Ira  Person,  John  Duncan,  Sereno  Howe,  John 
Duer,  and  John  Hubbard,  this  church  was  disbanded  in  1861. 
The  mention  of  the  Eev.  Sereno  Howe  renders  it  proper  to 
say,  that  during  his  seven  years'  residence  in  Lowell,  from 
1849  to  1856,  his  private  life  was  irreproachable.  That  he 
afterward  became  addicted  to  licentious  indulgencies,  in  Ab- 
ington,  may,  in  charity,  be  attributed  to  constitutional  infirm 
ities,  against  which  he  may  have  struggled  long  and  bravely, 
but  in  vain. 

"  What's  done  we  partly  may  compute, 
But  know  not  what's  resisted." 


The  Worthen  Street  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  was  organ 
ized  October  2nd,  1841,  and  the  edifice  erected  in  1842,  at  a 
cost  of  $8,800.  The  succession  of  pastors  has  been — Eevs. 
A.  D.  Sargeant,  A.  D.  Merrill,  J.  S.  Springer,  Isaac  A.  Savage, 
Charles  Adams,  I.  J.  P.  Collyer,  M.  A.  Howe,  J.  W.  Dadmun, 


HISTORY    OF    LOWELL.  97 

William  H.  Hatch,  A.  D.  Sargeant,  (again),  L.  R.  Thayer, 
William  H.  Hatch,  (again),  and  J.  O.  Peck,  one  of  the 
gayest  Lotharios  that  ever  flourished  in  the  Lowell  pulpit. 
Rev.  George  Whittaker  succeeded  Mr.  Peck  in  1867. 

St  Peter's  Eoman  Catholic  Church  was  gathered  on  Christ 
inas  Day,  1841,  and  the  edifice  built  the  same  year,  costing 
$22,000.  Rev.  James  Conway,  the  first  pastor  of  St.  Peter's, 
was  succeeded  in  March,  1847,  by  Rev.  Peter  Crudden. 


In  1843,  the  Lowell  Missionary  Society  established  a  Min- 
istry-at-Large  after  the  style  of  that  established  in  Boston  by 
the  Rev.  Dr.  Tuckerman.  Rev.  Horatio  Wood  has  officiated 
in  this  ministry  since  1844.  He  has  also  labored  assiduously 
and  successfully  in  Free  Evening  Schools,  Sunday  Mission 
Schools,  etc. 

The  Kirk  Street  Congregational  Church  dates  from  1845, 
and  the  edifice  from  1846.  The  cost  of  the  land,  edifice, 
organ,  etc.,  was  $22,000.  Rev.  Amos  Blanchard,  D.  D.,  has 
been  pastor  of  this  church  ever  since  its  organization. 


98 


HISTORY    OF    LOWELL. 


In  the  substantial  elements  of  parochial  strength,  this 
church  is  one  of  the  strongest  in  Lowell.  Yet  four  lines 
suffice  for  its  history — it  having  had  no  changes  in  its  pas 
torate,  no  heresy,  no  schism,  no  scamps,  no  scandal.  "Happy 
are  the  people  whose  annals  are  barren." 

The  High  Street  Congregational  Church  was  organized  in 
1846.  Their  edifice,  which  cost  $12,500,  was  built  by  St. 
Luke's  Church,  an  Episcopal  society  which  was  formed  in 
1842,  and  which  perished  in  1844,  under  Rev.  A.  D.  McCoy. 
The  pastors  have  been — Kev.  Timothy  Atkinson,  from  1846  to 
1847  ;  Rev.  Joseph  H.  Towne,  from  1848  to  1853  ;  and  Rev. 
0.  T.  Lamphier,  from  1855  to  1856.  Rev.  Owen  Street,  the 
present  pastor,  was  installed  September  17th,  1857. 

St.  Mary's  Roman  Catholic  Church  was  originally  built  for 
the  Baptists,  but  was  ill  located  for  any  Protestant  sect.  After 
passing  through  various  vicissitudes,  in  1846,  it  was  purchased 
by  the  late  Rev.  James  T.  McDermott,  and  consecrated  March 
7th,  1847.  Father  McDermott's  independence  of  mind  in 
volved  him  in  a  controversy  with  his  Diocesan,  the  late  Bishop 
Fitzpatrick  ;  and  for  years  this  church  has  been  closed.  This 


HISTORY    OF    LOWELL. 


99 


is  much  to  be  regretted ;  for  in  Lowell,  as  in  all  the  centres  of 
population,  the  Roman  Catholic  Church  has  a  great  body  of 
the  poor  and  laboring  classes  in  her  communion;  and  as  Brown- 
son  remarks,  "  the  country  is  more  indebted  than  it  is  aware 
of,  to  the  Catholic  priesthood,  for  their  labors  among  this  por 
tion  of  our  population."0 

In  1843,  the  Third  IJniversalist  Church  was  organized,  and 
the  edifice  now  known  as  Barrister's  Hall  built  for  its  use. 
But  after  a  languid  existence  under  Eevs.  H.  Gr.  Smith,  John 
Moore,  H.  G.  Smith,  (again),  and  L.  J".  Fletcher,  it  was  dis 
solved.  The  two  last  pastors  of  this  church  were  not  in  full 
fellowship  with  their  denomination,  but  preached  indepen 
dently  as  ecclesiastical  guerrillas. 


The  Central  Methodist  Church  occupied  this  edifice,  after 
the  collapse  of  the  IJniversalist  society,  until  1861,  when 
they  secured  the  building  of  the  Third  Baptist  Church,  then 
defunct.  This  Central  Methodist,  society  was  gathered  in 
1854.  The  pastors  have  been — Revs.  William  S.  Studley, 

*  Father  O'lirieu  estimates  the  number  of  Roman  Catholics  in  Lowell  to 
be  fifteen  thousand. 


100 


HISTORY    OF    LOWELL. 


Isaac  S.  Cushman,  Isaac  J.  P.  Collyer,  Chester  Field,  Lorenzo 
K.  Thayer  and  J.  H.  Mansfield.  Eev.  Andrew  McKeown  suc 
ceeded  Mr.  Mansfield  in  1865,  and  remained  two  years.  He 
was  succeeded  in  1867  by  Eev.  William  C.  High. 


In  1850,  a  picturesque  stone  edifice,  of  Gothic  style,  with 
stained  windows,  was  erected  on  Lee  street,  at  a  cost  of  $20,000. 
It  was  designed  for  a  Unitarian  society,  organized  in  1846, 
which  occupied  it  until  1861,  whose  pastors  were  Eevs.  M.  A. 
H.  Niles,  William  Barry,  Augustus  Woodbury,  J.  K.  Karcher, 
John  B.  Willard,  and  William  C.  Tenney. 

Since  1864  it  has  been  occupied  by  a  society  of  Spiritualists. 

The  wooden  edifice  on  Prescott  street  containing  Leonard 
Worcester's  clothes-making  establishment,  has  an  ecclesias 
tical  history  that  must  not  be  lost.  It  was  the  first  church 
erected  by  the  Episcopal  Methodists  in  Lowell,  and  was  built 
in  1827.  It  stood  originally  at  the  corner  of  Elm  and  Central 


HISTORY    OF    LOWELL.  101 

streets.  It  is  from  this  church  or  chapel  that  Chapel  Hill 
derives  its  name.  On  the  completion  of  the  Hurd  street 
church  in  1839,  this  edifice  was  closed.  But  on  the  organ- 
zation  of  the  Wesleyan  Methodists  as  a  separate  denomination, 
this  church  passed  into  their  hands.  In  1843,  it  was  removed 
to  Prescott  Street.  Here  successively  preached  Revs.  E.  S. 
Potter,  James  Hardy,  Merritt  Bates,  William  H.  Brewster,0 
and  Daniel  Foster,  who  became  Chaplain  of  the  Massachusetts 
House  of  Eepresentatives  in  1857,  and  subsequently  Chaplain 
of  the  Thirty-Third  Regiment  of  Massachusetts  Volunteers, 
and  who  was  killed  in  battle  at  Fort  Harrison,  September 
30th,  1864,  while  in  command  of  a  company  of  the  Thirty- 
Seventh  Colored  Troops. 

If  Captain  Foster  was  the  last,  Mr.  Hardy  was  the  most 
popular  in  this  succession  of  pastors.  He  began  his  ministry 
here  in  1846,  and  flourished  brilliantly  for  a  time,  selecting  the 
best  sermons  of  the  ablest  English  divines,  and  palming  them 
off  as  his  own — his  too  credulous  people  admiring  and  won 
dering  at  his  ability  and  versatility. 

"  And  still  he  talked,  and  still  the  wonder  grew, 
That  one  small  head  could  carry  all  he  knew." 

Mr.  Hardy,  however,  proved  anything  but  a  good  shepherd. 
He  developed  tendencies  toward  practical  Mormonism  and  Free 
Love.  He  not  only  had  one  wife  too  many,  but  he  was  dis 
covered  in  a  liason  with  one  of  the  ladies  of  his  choir,  and 
his  pastorate  was  brought  to  an  abrupt  termination.  He  sub 
sequently  "took  a  degree"  in  a  New  York  penitentiary  for 
bigamy,  and  died  ingloriously. 

On  July  5th,  1855,  the  stone  edifice  on  Merrimack  street 
erected  by  the  late  William  Wyman,  was  dedicated  as  a 
Methodist  Protestant  Church.  There  preached  Revs.  Wil 
liam  Marks,  Richard  H.  Dorr,  Robert  Crossley,  and  others, 

*Mr.  Brewster  had  previously  been  pastor  of  a  second  Wesleyan  society, 
which  long  occupied  the  edifice  on  Lowell  street,  where  Rev.  Timothy  Cole 
formerly  preached. 

9* 


102  HISTORY    OF    LOWELL. 

both  clerical  and  lay,  not  the  least  of  whom  was  Captain  Wy- 
man  himself.  But  after  a  few  years  the  enterprise  aborted ; 
and  the  edifice  passed  into  the  hands  of  the  Second  Advent- 
ists,  a  society  formed  here  as  early  as  1842. 

St.  John's  Episcopal  church  was  erected  in  1861,  and  con 
secrated  by  Bishop  Eastburn,  July  16th,  1863.  Eev.  Charles 
W.  Homer,  who  had  previously  been  assistant  minister  at  St. 
Anne's,  was  the  first  rector.  On  November  22nd,  1862,  he 
resigned,  and  was  succeeded  in  1863,  by  Eev.  Cornelius  B. 
Smith,  to  whom  in  1866  succeeded  Kev.  Charles  L.  Hutchins. 
In  this  edifice  is  a  Memorial  Window  to  the  late  Elisha  Hun- 
tington. 

Besides  the  churches  herein  chronicled,  others  have  been 
formed  at  various  times,  which  acquired  no  permanent  foot 
hold,  but  experienced  all  varieties  of  fortune,  and  passed  into 
the  limbo  of  oblivion,  leaving  no  discernable  footprints  on  the 
ever-changing  sands  of  time. 

The  number  of  churches  now  "in  commission"  here  is  eigh 
teen.  The  population  of  Lowell  is  about  forty  thousand.  If, 
then,  we  assume  each  church  to  have,  upon  an  average,  six  hun 
dred  attendants,  we  shall  have,  in  the  aggregate,  ten  thousand 
eight  hundred  church-goers ;  and  if  to  this  we  add  twenty-two 
hundred  who  are  reached  through  the  Ministry-at-Large,  the 
Mission  Schools,  etc.,  we  shall  still  have  twenty-seven  thousand 
souls  unprovided  with  stated  religious  instruction. 


HISTORY    OF    LOWELL.  103 

CHAPTER  VII. 

SCHOOL    HISTORY    OF    LOWELL. 

District  Schools— High  School  —  Edson  —  Washington  —  Bartlett  —  Adams- 
Franklin  —  Moody— Green  —  Mann— Colburn—  Varnum— Intermediate- 
Evening— Carney  Medals— Superintendence,  etc. 

Before  the  manufacturing  companies  began  their  operations 
here,  the  eastern  school  district  of  Chelmsford  contained  two 
common  district  schools,  one  near  the  pound  on  the  old  Chelms 
ford  road,  and  the  other  near  Pawtucket  Falls.  In  1824,  the  \ 
Merrimack  Company,  at  their  own  expense,  established  a  school 
for  the  children  of  their  operatives,  and  placed  it  under  the 
supervision  of  Rev.  Theodore  Edson,  their  minister.  This 
school — the  germ  of  the  present  Bartlett  School — was  kept  in 
the  lower  story  of  the  building  then  occupied  by  the  Merri 
mack  Religious  Society.  Colburn's  "First  Lessons,"  and  his 
"  Sequel"  were  introduced  here,  though  much  denounced  and 
opposed  by  those  who  did  not  understand  them.  In  the  fol 
lowing  year,  the  opposition  to  Colburn's  books  abated,  the 
school  being  then  in  charge  of  Joel  Lewis,  who  had  been  a 
pupil  of  Colburn,  and  understood  the  use  of  his  books. 

In  1826,  the  new-born  town  of  Lowell  was  divided  into 
six  school  districts ;  and  one  thousand  dollars  was  appropri 
ated  for  the  support  of  schools  during  that  year.  The  school 
for  the  first  district  was  that  which  the  Merrimack  Company 
had  founded  ;  that  for  the  second  district  stood  near  where 
the  Hospital  now  stands  ;  that  for  the  third,  near  the  Pound  ; 
that  for  the  fourth,  near  Hale's  Mills  ;  that  for  the  fifth — the 
germ  of  the  present  Edson  School — near  the  site  of  the  Free 
Chapel ;  that  for  the  sixth,  near  the  south  corner  of  Central 
and  Hurd  streets.  As  population  multiplied,  other  schools 
were  opened,  but  the  number  of  districts  remained  unchanged 
until  1832,  when  the  district  system  terminated. 


104  HISTORY    OF    LOWELL. 

The  first  School  Committee  consisted  of  Theodore  Edson, 
AVarren  Colburn,  Samuel  Batchelder,  John  0.  Green,  and  Eli- 
sha  Huntington.  Their  report  was  read  in  the  town  meeting 
in  March,  1827,  and  recorded  in  the  town  book.  The  appro 
priate  custom  of  reading  school  committees'  reports  in  town 
meeting  is  now  universal  in  Massachusetts.  Concord,  which 
claims  the  honor  of  leading  in  this  custom,  did  not  adopt  it 
until  1830,  four  years  after  it  had  been  introduced  in  Lowell.0 

In  the  management  of  these  schools,  the  School  Committee, 
for  some  years,  encountered  many  difficulties,  through  the  fierce 
antagonisms  of  interest  and  feeling  which  arose  between  the 
old  settlers  and  the  operatives  in  the  mills.  The  old  preju 
dice  against  Colburn' s  books  soon  revived  with  unwonted  fury, 
especially  in  the  third  district,  which  was  the  smallest  and  the 
most  troublesome  in  the  town.  In  the  winter  of  182G-7,  a 
teacher — Perley  Morse — was  employed  by  the  Prudential  Com 
mittee,  who  joined  in  the  opposition  to  Colburn's  books,  and 
whom  the  School  Committee  refused  to  approve ;  but  the  Pru 
dential  Committee,  contrary  to  law,  backed  by  the  people,  sus 
tained  him  in  his  school.  The  excitement  reached  its  crisis  at 
the  town  meeting  in  March,  1828.  The  report  of  the  School 
Committee  had  no  sooner  been  read,  than,  by  vote  of  the 
meeting,  it  was  laid  under  the  table  ;  and  a  motion  was  made 
that  the  Committee  be  laid  under  the  table  too.  Neither 
Colburn,  nor  Edson,  nor  any  of  their  associates  were  then  re- 
elected  ;  but  a  new  Committee  was  chosen,  perfectly  supple 
and  subservient  to  popular  caprice. 

The  operation  of  the  complex  machinery  of  the  District 
system  was  attended  with  constant  friction ;  and  on  the  third 
of  September.  1832,  a  town  meeting  was  held  to  determine 

*Edson's  Colburn  School  Address,  p.  12.  Mr.  Boutwell's  statement  on 
the  sixty-first  page  of  his  last  report  as  Secretary  of  the  Hoard  of  Edu 
cation,  requires  correction.  For  the  roll  of  School  Committee-men,  see 
the  Appendix  to  the  Regulations  of  the  School  Committee,  18(57.  See  also 
Merrill's  school  sketches  in  Lowell  Courier,  December,  1859. 


HISTORY    OF    LOWELL.  105 

whether  the  town  would  authorize  a  loan  of  $20,000  to  defray 
the  expense  of  buying  land  and  building  two  large  school 
houses^  with  the  view  of  consolidating  all  the  public  schools 
of  the  town  in  two  large  schools,  and  thus  superseding  the 
District  system  altogether.  The  whole  body  of  corporation 
influence,  with  Kirk  Boott  to  wield  it  at  his  imperial  will, 
was  brought  to  bear  against  the  proposed  reform ;  and  not  a 
few  of  the  old  settlers  also  clung  with  fond  tenacity  to  their 
"  deestrict "  schools.  So  formidable  was  this  opposition,  that, 
although  the  local  clergy  and  all  the  most  intelligent  friends 
of  education  strongly  favored  the  innovation,  only  one  man 
was  found  with  courage  enough  to  advocate  it  in  town  meet 
ing.  Single  handed  and  alone,  Theodore  Edson  met  Kirk  Boott 
and  his  allies  breast  to  breast ;  not  hesitating 

"To  beard  the  lion  in  his  den, 
The  Douglass  in  his  hall." 

During  a  protracted  and  tumultuous  debate,  Edson  held  his 
ground  unflinchingly,  and  finally  carried  his  point  by  twelve 
majority.  Chafing  under  their  defeat,  the  adherents  of  the  old 
system  called  another  town  meeting  on  the  nineteenth  of  the 
same  month,  when  another  debate-  ensued,  more  tumultuous 
and  more  decisive  than  the  last.  Two  new  champions — John 
P.  Kobinson  and  Luther  Lawrence  —  entered  the  list  with 
Boott ;  but  Edson  stood  alone  as  before,  and  when  the  vote 
was  taken,  carried  his  point  by  thirty-eight  majority, —  con 
vincing  his  opponents  that  it  would  be  folly  to  renew  the  fight. 

The  part  played  by  Dr.  Edson  in  this  contest  was  never  for 
given  by  Boott,  who  even  withdrew  from  the  church  in  which 
the  Doctor  officiated.  For  a  time,  none  of  the  corporation 
nabobs  would  have  anything  to  do  with  the  schools  thus 
erected  contrary  to  their  sovereign  will  and  pleasure.  It  was 
only  when  Henry  Clay  came  to  Lowell  that  their  High  Mighti 
nesses  were  graciously  pleased  to  let  the  light  of  their  coun 
tenances  shine  for  a  moment  on  the  benighted  little  Hottentots 
that  filled  the  North  and  South  Grammar  Schools. 


106  HISTORY    OF    LOWELL. 

To  detail  in  full  the  history  of  all  the  schools  would  be 
tedious ;  but  the  principal  schools  must  not  be  passed  unno 
ticed;  for,  as  Edward  Everett  observes,  "the  dedication  of 
a  new  first-class  school  house  is  at  all  times  an  event  of  far 
greater  importance  to  the  welfare  of  the  community  than  many 
of  the  occurrences  which  at  the  time  attract  much  more  of  the 
public  attention,  and  fill  a  larger  space  in  the  pages  of  history." 

In  December,  1831,  the  Lowell  High  School  was  opened  un- 
under  Thomas  M.  Clark,  now  Bishop  of  Ehode  Island,  as 
principal  teacher.  One  of  his  classes  contained  four  boys 
whose  subsequent  history  may  well  excite  pride  in  their 
teacher,  if  so  unsanctified  a  feeling  ever  obtains  '  access  to 
the  episcopal  breast.  These  boys  were  Benjamin  F.  Butler, 
whose  exploits  have  been  recorded  with  fond  exaggeration  by 
Parton  ;  Gustavus  V.  Fox,  the  energetic  Assistant  Secretary 
of  the  Navy  during  the  War  ;  E.  A.  Straw,  the  efficient  Agent 
of  the  Amoskeag  Mills  at  Manchester  ;  and  George  L.  Balcom, 
of  Claremont,  one  of  the  wealthiest  and  most  successful  men 
in  New  Hampshire. 

The  present  High  School  House  was  erected  in  1840,  and 
reconstructed  in  1867.  Mr.  Clark  was  succeeded  in  Septem 
ber,  1833,  by  Nicholas  Hoppiu  ;  in  August,  1834,  by  William 
Hall;  in  May,  1835,  by  Franklin  Forbes;  in  August  1836, 
by  Moody  Currier;  in  April,  1841,  by  Neheraiah  Cleaveland  ; 
in  July,  1842,  by  Mr.  Forbes  (again  ;)  and  in  July,  1845,  by 
Charles  C.  Chase,  who  has  ever  since  ably  and  worthily  sus 
tained  himself  at  the  head  of  the  Lowell  corps  of  teachers. 

On  February  18th,  1833,  the  South  Grammar  School-House 
was  opened,  and  two  schools  were  united  and  placed  in  it.  One 
was  the  school  of  what  had  been  the  fifth  district,  which,  since 
November  5th,  1827,  had  been  taught  by  Joshua  Merrill.  The 
school  thus  formed  was  the  same  that  afterward  took  the  name 
of  the  Ed  son  School.  Joshua  Merrill  had  charge  of  it  until 
October,  1845,°  when  Perley  Balch  succeeded  him. 

*  In  1841  and  18i2,  Mr.  Merrill  had  for  his  assistant  Theodore  II.  Svveetser , 
who  has  since  acquired  notoriety  by  his  success  at  the  Bar. 


HISTORY    OF    LOWELL.  107 

In  1856,  this  edifice  was  reconstructed,  and  the  Washington 
School  consolidated  with  the  Edson.  This  Washington  School 
was  founded  March  24th,  1834,  kept  for  four  years  in  the 
North  School-House,  and  then  removed  to  the  South  School- 
House.  Its  principals  were  Nathaniel  D.  Healey  from  1834 
to  1835;  Samuel  S.  Dutton  and  Isaac  W'hittier  in  1835; 
John  Butterfield  from  1835  to  1840;  Jonathan  Kimball  from 
1840  to  1851 ;  Albert  T.  Young  from  1851  to  1853  ;  P.  W. 
Kobertson  from  1853  to  1856. 

In  May,  1833,  the  North  Grammar  School-House  was  com 
pleted,  and  the  school,  which,  until  then,  had  occupied  the 
Merrimack  Company's  school-house,  was  moved  into  the  upper 
part  of  it,  and  has  continued  to  occupy  it  ever  since.  The 
principals  of  this  school  have  been — Joel  Lewis  from  1825  to 
1826  ;  Alfred  V.  Bassett  from  1826  to  1829  ;  Walter  Abbott 
from  1829  to  1830  ;  Reuben  Hills  from  1830  to  1835  ;  Jacob 
Graves  from  1835  to  1841  ;  G.  0.  Fairbanks  from  1841  to 
1842;  0.  C.  Wright  from  1842  to  1843;  Jacob  Graves  from 
1843  to  1847  ;  and  J.  P.  risk  from  1847  to  1856,  when  the 
edifice  was  reconstructed  and  Samuel  Bement  became  princi 
pal.  Originally  known  as  the  Merrimack  School,  on  being 
removed  in  1833  it  took  the  name  of  the  North  Grammar 
School,  which  it  retained  till  1850,  when  the  School  Com 
mittee  named  it  the  Hancock  School.  On  the  reconstruction 
of  the  building  in  1856,  this  school  received  the  name  of  the 
Bartlett  School,  in  honor  of  Dr.  Bartlett,  the  first  Mayor  of 
Lowell.  At  the  same  time,  the  Adams  School,  was  consoli 
dated  with  the  Bartlett.  The  Adams  was  opened  in  1836  in 
the  lower  part  of  the  North  Grammar  School-House.  Its  first 
principal  was  Otis  H.  Morrill,  to  whom  Samuel  Bement  suc 
ceeded  in  1851. 

The  City  Charter  of  1836  provided  that  the  School  Com 
mittee  should  consist  of  six  persons  specially  chosen,  in  addition 
to  the  Mayor  and  Aldermen  ;  but  in  1856  the  Charter  was 


108  HISTORY    OF    LOWELL. 

amended,  and  the  Aldermen  detached  from  the  School  Com 
mittee,  the  number  of  which  was  increased  to  twelve,  besides 
the  Mayor  and  the  President  of  the  Common  Council. 

The  Franklin  Grammar  School  dates  from  the  winter  of 
1839,  when  Eufus  Adams  opened  a  school  near  where  the 
Franklin  now  stands.  George  Spaulding  taught  here  from 
1840  to  1844,  when  Nelson  H.  Morse  succeeded  him.  The 
present  edifice  was  erected  in  1845,  and  remodeled  in  1863. 
In  1848,  Mr.  Morse  was  succeeded  first  by  Ephraim  Brown, 
and  afterward  by  Ephraim  W.  Young.  In  1849,  Amos  B. 
Heywood  was  placed  in  charge  of  this  school. 

On  January  8th,  1841,  the  Moody  Grammar  School  was 
opened  under  Seth  Pooler,  who  had  been  an  assistant  in  the 
High  School  since  1838,  and  who  continued  principal  of  the 
Moody  School  until  1856,  when  Joseph  Peabody  succeeded 
him. 

A  few  months  subsequent  to  the  opening  of  the  Moody 
School,  the  Green  School  was  opened.  Samuel  C.  Pratt  was 
principal  from  1841  to  1843  ;  Aaron  Walker,  Junior,  from 
1843  to  1845  ;  Charles  Morrill  from  1845  to  1866,  when  he 
was  chosen  Superintendent  of  Schools.  Charles  A.  Chase  suc 
ceeded  him. 

On  January  8th,  1844,  the  Mann  Grammar  School-House 
was  opened.  The  school  itself  had  existed  as  a  public  school 
ever  since  1835,  when  the  arrangement  for  comprehending  the 
Irish  schools  in  the  public  school  system  of  Lowell  was  first 
effected  by  the  School  Committee  and  Eev.  James  Connolly,0 
the  Koman  Catholic  priest.  In  1839  another  school  was  con 
solidated  with  it  which  had  previously  been  in  charge  of  Daniel 

*  See  Reports  of  the  School  Committee,  1833  and  18M;  Mrs.  Mann's  Life  of 
Horace  Mann,  p.  202;  New  Englander,  April,  1848.  This  arrangement  was 
that  the  teachers  of  the  Irish  children's  schools  should  be  Roman  Catholics. 
They  were,  however,  to  be  subject  to  examination,  and  their  schools  to  visi 
tation  by  the  School  Committee,  in  the  same  manner  as  other  teachers  and 
schools.  In  a  few  years,  however,  the  jealousies  which  rendered  this  ar 
rangement  advisable,  siibsided,  and  differences  of  creed  ceased  to  be  recog 
nized  in  any  form  in  connection  with  the  public  schools. 


HISTORY    OF    LOWELL.  109 

Mclllroy.  The  principals  of  the  present  Mann  School  have 
been — Patrick  Collins,  from  1835  to  1838;  Daniel  Mclllroy, 
from  1838, to  1841  ;  James  Egan,  from  1841  to  1843;  Michael 
Flynn,  from  1843  to  1844  ;  George  W.  Shattuck,  from  1844  to 
1853.  P.  W.  Eoberston  and  Albert  T.  Young  were  then  each 
in  charge  for  a  few  months;  but  before  the  close  of  1853, 
Samuel  A.  Chase  was  appointed  principal,  and  has  remained 
here  ever  since. 

On  December  13th,  1848,  the  Colburn  School  was  opened, 
when  Dr.  Edson  delivered  an  address,  full  of  interesting 
reminiscences  of  the  early  school  history  of  Lowell.  Aaron 
Walker,  Junior,  was  principal  from  1848  until  1864,  when 
Fidelia  0.  Dodge  succeeded  him. 

On  the  annexation  of  the  faubourg  of  Centralville  in  1851, 
the  Varnum  School  was  opened.  A.  W.  Boardman  was  prin 
cipal  during  the  two  first  years,  and  was  succeeded  by  D.  P. 
Galloupe.  Originally  kept  in  the  old  Academy  Building,  in 
1857,  it  was  removed  into  the  spacious  edifice  which  it  now 
occupies. 

In  1851,  the  School  Committee  established  Intermediate 
Schools  to  meet  the  wants  of  a  numerous  class  of  Irish  pupils, 
too  large  to  be  placed  to  the  Primaries,  and  too  backward  to  be 
admitted  to  the  Grammar  Schools.  But  in  ten  years  the  neces 
sity  which  called  these  schools  into  being,  was  no  longer  felt, 
and  they  were  consolidated  with  the  Grammar  Schools. 

In  1857,  two  free  Evening  Schools  which  had  previously 
been  conducted  by  the  Lowell  Missionary  Association,  were, 
by  vote  of  the  School  Committee,  comprehended  within  the 
public  school  system  of  Lowell.  In  1859,  there  were  six 
public  evening  schools — three  for  boys  and  three  for  girls— 
under  the  supervision  of  the  School  Committee.0  They  had 
two  sessions  per  week  and  imparted  instruction  to  about  five 
hundred  pupils.  If  any  schools  should  be  public  and  free, 
surely  the  evening  schools  of  the  industrious  uninstructed  poor 

*  Report  of  School  Committee,  1859,  pp.  28-31. 

10 


110  HISTORY    OF    LOWELL. 

should  "be  public  and  free.  Yet  these  have  been  suffered  to 
languish  and  die ;  and  the  Missionary  Society  has  resumed 
the  work  which  properly  belonged  to  the  city. 

In  1858,  Mr.  James  G.  Carney  presented  one  hundred  dol 
lars  to  the  city,  upon  the  condition  that  the  interest  thereof 
shall  annually  be  appropriated  to  the  procuring  of  six  silver 
medals,  to  be  distributed  to  the  six  best  scholars  in  the  High 
School,  forever, — three  in  the  girls'  department  and  three  in 
boys'  department.  The  liberal  donation  was  accepted,  and  the 
faith  of  the  city  pledged  to  the  just  discharge  of  the  trust.0 
Such  was  the  origin  of  the  Carney  Medals,  which  will  continue 
to  be  striven  for  by  the  pupils  of  the  High  School  when  the 
dust  of  unnumbered  centuries  shall  cover  the  grave  of  their 
founder. 

In  1859,  the  experiment  of  a  Superintendent  of  Public 
Schools  was  first  tried  in  Lowell,  George  W.  Shattuck  being 
appointed  to  that  office.  But  toward  the  close  of  the  year  a 
popular  clamor  was  raised,  and  the  office  abolished.  It  was 
revived  in  1864,  when  Abner  J.  Phipps  was  made  Super 
intendent.  The  credit  of  the  revival  of  this  useful  and  neces 
sary  office  is  largely  due  to  the  School  Committee.  Mr.  Phipps 
was  succeeded  in  1866  by  Charles  Morrill. 

In  1863,  John  F.  McEvoy,  John  H.  McAlvin  and  others 
founded  the  Lowell  High  School  Association.  Annual  levees 
are  held  by  this  society,  whereat  the  lives,  adventures,  songs, 
services,  speeches,  hair-breadth  escapes  and  deeds  of  valor  by 
flood  and  field  of  the  past  pupils  of  the  High  School,  are 
commemorated  with  becoming  enthusiasm. 

The  public  educational  system  of  Lowell  now  consists  of 
one  high  school,  eight  grammar  schools,  and  forty-seven  pri 
maries,  which  would  probably  not  suffer  by  comparison  with 
the  schools  of  other  cities  in  New  England. 

*  See  Carney  Medal  Documents,  appended  to  the  Report  of  the  School 
Committee  of  1859. 


HISTORY    OF    LOWELL.  Ill 

CHAPTER  VIII. 

GENERAL    HISTORY    OF    LOWELL.       1835 1850. 

Marriage  and  Death  of  Enoch  W.  Freeman— Hannah  Kinney— Her  Trial  for 
Murder— Elias  Howe— James  C.  Ayer— Financial  Revulsion— Lowell  be 
comes  a  City — Death  of  Kirk  Boott — Market  House — Courts  in  Lowell — 
Death  of  Luther  Lawrence— Wendell  Phillips— Lowell  Hospital— The 
Commons — Museum — The  Offering — Death  of  Sheriff  Varnum — Death  of 
President  Harrison  —  The  Cemetery — Vox  Populi — Chai'les  Dickens — 
William  Graves— President  Tyler— Webster  Incidents— City  Library— 
Elisha  Fuller— Henry  F.  Durant— Medical  Society— Dr.  Miles'  Book— 
Newspaper  Libels — John  G.  Whittier — Merrimack  River  Fisheries — Judge 
Locke— Judge  Crosby— President  Polk— Death  of  Patrick  T.  Jackson— 
Northern  Canal — Abraham  Lincoln — Death  of  President  Taylor — Battle 
of  Suffolk  Bridge — Father  Mat-hew — Reservoir  on  Lynde's  Hill. 

"The  Minister's  AVooing "  had  deeply  exercised  the  ladies 
of  the  First  Baptist  Church,  long  before  that  subject  employed 
the  pen  of  Mrs.  Harriet  Beecher  Stowe.  Church  Committees, 
Ex  Parte  Councils  and  Mutual  Councils  were  again  and  again 
appointed  to  consider  the  scandals  growing  out  of  the  court 
ship  of  Rev.  Enoch  W.  Freeman  and  Hannah  Hanson.0  Mr. 
Freeman  was,  of  course,  sustained  ;  but  there  was  still  an 
undercurrent  of  discontent  in  the  church,  on  account  of  his 
connection  with  this  remarkable  woman.  She  was  a  native 
of  Lisbon,  in  Maine,  was  the  cousin  of  Mr.  Freeman,  and  had 
had  some  tender  correspondence  with  him  in  early  life.  In 
January,  1822,  she  was  married  to  Ward  Witham,  at  her 
father's  house  in  Portland.  Four  children  were  the  fruit  of 
this  marriage,  which  proved  anything  but  a  happy  one.  In 
February,  1832,  the  Supreme  Judicial  Court,  sitting  at  Boston, 
granted  her  a  decree  of  divorce  from  the  bond  of  matrimony, 
on  account  of  the  criminality  of  Witham.  A  correspondence 
between  Mr.  Freeman  and  her  soon  afterward  commenced, 
which  culminated  in  their  marriage,  September  23rd,  1834. 
For  six  months  they  boarded  with  Mrs.  Charlotte  Butler, 

*  Life  of  Mrs.  Kinney,  by  Herself. 


112  HISTORY    OF    LOWELL. 

whose  son  Benjamin — the  future  pro-consul  of  New  Orleans — 
was  at  that  time  intended  for  the  Baptist  ministry.  As  Pope 
sighed 

"  How  sweet  an  Ovid  was  iii  Murray  lost," 

so  may  others  lament  that  a  Boanerges  of  the  pulpit  was 
spoiled  in  Butler.  In  March,  1835,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Free 
man  made  a  visit  to  the  father  of  Mr.  Freeman,  in  Maine. 
Durina  that  visit,  the  elder  Freeman  suddenly  died,  exhibiting 
the  same  symptoms  which  were  afterward  observed  in  the  case 
of  his  son. 

Mrs.  Freeman  continued  to  be  the  subject  of  scandal  after 
her  marriage,  on  account  of  her  supposed  intimacy  with  George 
T.  Kinney  of  Boston,  who  had  assisted  her  in  obtaining  her 
divorce,  and  to  whom  she  was  said  to  have  been  engaged.  It 
was  said  that  Kinney  was  a  frequent  visitor  at  Mr.  Freeman's 
house,  and  that  he  was  there  on  the  morning  of  Sunday,  Sep 
tember  20th,  1835.  On  that  day,  after  morning  service,  Mr. 
Freeman  became  suddenly  ill,  and  experienced  repeated  vom 
itings.  He,  however,  returned  to  his  pulpit,  and  commenced 
the  afternoon  services,  but  was  unable  to  proceed,  and  returned 
to  his  house.  He  continued  to  grow  worse,  suffering  intense 
pain  internally,  until  five  o'clock  on  the  morning  of  the  fol 
lowing  Tuesday,  when  death  released  him  from  his  sufferings. 
He  was  thirty-seven  years  of  age,  and  had  been  married  ex 
actly  one  year.  He  was  a  most  uxorious  husband,  and  on  his 
death-bed  requested  that  all  his  wife's  children  by  Witham 
should  adopt  his  surname.  If  he  really  died  by  poison  admin 
istered  by  his  wife,  his  last  words  to  her — "  Never  feel  alone  ; 
I  shall  always  be  with  you" — must  have  come  home  with  ter 
rible  emphasis  to  her  depraved  soul. 

Just  as  he  closed  his  eyes  in  death,  he  was  asked  whether 
he  had  any  advice  to  leave  to  his  church.  He  replied,  "  Tell 
them  to  be  humble,  faithful,  zealous  and  united  in  love."  A 
post  mortem  examination  showed  his  stomach  to  have  been 
highly  inflamed,  but  the  contents  were  not  subjected  to  a 


HISTORY    OF    LOWELL.  113 

chemical  analysis — no  suspicion  being  then  entertained  that 
the  death  was  caused  by  poison.  Mrs.  Freeman  appeared  to 
be  deeply  affected  by  her  bereavement.  One  week  subse 
quently,  she  was  confined.  She  remained  for  some  time  in 
Lowell,  keeping  a  milliner's  shop  on  Merrimack  street.  She 
afterward  removed  to  Boston,  from,  whence  she  sent  a  weeping 
willow  to  be  planted  by  the  monument  erected  over  Mr.  Free 
man's  grave.  On  November  26th,  1836,  she  was  married  to 
George  T.  Kinney,  a  man  five  years  younger  than  herself — a 
drunkard,  a  roue  and  a  gambler.  On  August  10th,  1840, 
Kinney  died  in  a  manner  similar  to  Mr.  Freeman  ;  and  a  cor 
oner's  jury  found  that  his  death  was  caused  by  poison  admin 
istered  by  his  wife. 

Long  before  the  death  of  Kinney,  suspicions  hid  been 
entertained  in  Lowell  that  there  had  been  foul  play  with  Mr. 
Freeman — that  his  wife  had  been  guilty  of  the  "deep  damna 
tion  of  his  taking  off."  In  consequence  of  these  suspicions, 
one  week  subsequent  to  the  death  of  Kinney,  Mr.  Freeman's 
remains  were  exhumed  in  the  Middlesex  street  burying-ground 
and  found  to  be  in  a  remarkable  state  of  preservation.  Many 
a  subject  has  been  used  to  illustrate  anatomical  lectures,  which 
was  more  decomposed  than  the  body  of  Mr.  Freeman. 

Immediately  after  Kinney's  funeral,  Mrs.  Kinney  made  a 
visit  to  some  of  his  friends  in  Thetford,  Vermont.  There  she 
was  arrested  and  taken  back  to  Boston  to  stand  her  trial  for 
murder.  On  her  way  thither  she  stopped  at  Lowell,  arriving 
here  on  Sunday  afternoon,  August  30th.  After  a  few  mo 
ments'  delay,  at  the  American  House,  she  again  left  in  the 
stage  for  Boston,  in  the  custody  of  an  officer.  Just  as  the 
stage  was  leaving,  the  congregation  to  whom  Mr.  Freeman  had 
ministered,  and  among  whom  she  had  once  moved  in  all  the 
dignity  of  a  pastor's  wife,  poured  along  the  streets  at  the  close 
of  their  afternoon  services.  With  what  emotion  they  gazed  on 
the  weeping  prisoner,  and  with  what  agony  she  met  their  gaze, 
it  is  easier  to  imagine  than  describe. 
100 


114  HISTORY    OF    LOWELL. 

The  trial  of  Mrs.  Kinney  for  the  murder  of  Kinney  began 
December  21st,  1840,  and  closed  on  Christmas  Day.  The 
defence  was  conducted  by  Franklin  Dexter  and  George  T. 
Curtis.  Although  she  was  acquitted  by  the  jury,  there  have 
always  been  persons  among  those  who  knew  her,  who  have 
persisted  in  believing  that  she  was  guilty,— that  she  poisoned 
two  husbands  and  one  husband's  father, — in  short,  that  she 
was  an  American  Lucretia  Borgia.  But  while  the  deaths  of 
the  three  supposed  victims  are  most  easily  explained  upon  the 
hypothesis  of  poison,  the  total  absence  of  motive  on  the  part 
of  the  accused,  envelopes  each  case  in  the  gravest  doubt. 

In  1835,  Central  Village  contained  about  forty  dwelling 
houses.  Central  Village  Academy  was  incorporated  and  en 
joyed  a  flourishing  existence  for  some  years. 

It  was  in  1835  that  Elias  Howe,  Junior — then  a  boy  of 
sixteen — came  to  Lowell.  He  remained  here  two  years,  em 
ployed  in  building  cotton  machinery.  While  here,  he  proba 
bly  became  acquainted  with  the  experiments  which  John  A. 
Bradshaw  was  then  making  with  the  sewing  machine.  Nine 
years  later,  he  invented  the  famous  Lock-Stitch  Sewing  Ma 
chine,  for  which  he  obtained  a  patent  in  1846.  Little,  how 
ever,  did  he  appreciate  the  value  of  his  invention  ;  for  he 
offered  to  sell  his  patent  for  the  sum  of  five  hundred  dollars — 
a  patent  from  which  he  afterward  realized  half  a  million  dol 
lars  in  a  single  year  !  He  died  October  3rd,  1867,  at  Brooklyn. 

Among  the  crowds  that  took  up  their  abode  here  synchro- 
niously  with  Mr.  Howe,  was  a  slender  youth  of  seventeen 
summers,  who  now  stands  the  foremost  of  those  who  have 
achieved  wealth  and  fame  in  the  manufacture  of  patent  medi 
cines.  James  C.  Ayer  was  born  in  Groton,  Connecticut,  May 
5th,  1818,  exactly  six  months  earlier  than  his  friend  and 
fellow-citizen,  Gen.  Butler.  His  first  experiences  here  were 
in  the  family  of  his  uncle,  James  Cook,  and  in  the  High 
School.  As  the  ardent  boy  walked  occasionally  through  the 
Middlesex  mills,  (of  which  his  uncle  was  then  Agent,)  and 


JAMES    C.    AYER. 


HISTORY    OF    LOWELL.  115 

saw  the  stockholders  and  directors  in  all  their  pride  and  pre- 
tention,  he  doubtless  hoped  that  the  time  would  come  when  he 
too  would  be  a  stockholder  and  a  director.  What  was  then  a 
dream  of  fancy  has  long  since  been  realized  as  a  fact. 

After  quitting  the  High  School,  and  studying  for  a  short 
time  in  the  Westford  Academy,  young  Ayer  entered  the  apoth 
ecary  shop  of  Jacob  Bobbins,  where  he  devoted  much  of  his 
attention  to  chemistry.  In  1843,  he  commenced  the  manu 
facture  of  medicines  for  popular  use.  The  result  of  his 
enterprise  is  the  mammoth  laboratory  of  which  an  account 
has  already  been  given.0  The  first  machine  for  making  pills 
was  invented  by  him.  In  recognition  of  his  acquisitions  in 
chemistry  and  kindred  sciences,  in  1860,  the  University  of 
Pennsylvania,  in  Philadelphia,  conferred  on  him  the  degree 
of  Doctor  of  Medicine.  Similarity  of  tastes  and  opinions  on 
various  points  brought  him  into  contact  with  Horace  Greeley  ; 
and  for  some  years  past,  Dr.  Ayer  has  been  the  largest  stock 
holder  in  the  New  York  Tribune. 

The  people  of  Lowell  participated  with  their  fellow  citizens 
all  over  New  England  in  the  mania  which  arose  prior  to  1835, 
first,  respecting  the  lands  in  Maine,  and  afterward  spreading 
till  it  inflated  the  prices  of  land  in  all  the  principal  cities  and 
towns  of  New  England.  Visionary  schemes  were  projected, 
castles  in  the  air  erected,  and  the  wildest  expectations  cher 
ished  that  large  fortunes  were  to  be  made  as  quickly  as  by 
the  seal  of  Solomon  or  the  lamp  of  Aladdin.  This  splendid 
bubble,  bursting  in  1837,  left  all  its  dupes  in  the  gulf  of 
penury.  When  the  commercial  history  of  this  country  shall 
be  written,  it  will  be  found  to  present  a  constant  series  of 
alternate  periods  of  wild  speculation,  and  periods  of  bank 
ruptcy.  When  business  has  been  good,  credits  have  been 
extended  too  far ;  and  a  general  reaction  has  ensued.  But 
the  elastic  spirit  of  the  people  and  their  recuperative  energy 
have  always  saved  the  country  from  protracted  periods  of 
depression. 

*  Ante  p.  64. 


